Arabian Nights!

This is a rousing affair indeed. Arabian Nights from Walter Wanger takes elements of the classic tales and throws them into a blender, draws off the magic and keeps the adventure and romance. The movie features some fantastic art design and some parts of it, especially early are quite creepy. The story is a simple one, a brother wants to overthrow his sibling for the love of a woman who it turns out falls in love the overthrown brother when they all try to escape the dangers of the city. Add the mischievous Sabu into the pot and you have an entertaining flicker for sure. 

The leads are Jon Hall as our deposed caliph who falls madly in love with Maria Montez. She's playing "Sherazade", a doll no one can deny. Sabu is an acrobat who for reasons never really well motivated helps the Hall character countless times and gets him involved with the traveling troupe that holds many of the best characters. 

We have several comedic characters but there is a two-man act of "Aladdin" and "Sinbad" played by John Qualen and Shemp Howard respectively. Aladdin is always looking for his lost lamp and Sinbad always wants to wax on about some trip he's made. Billy Gilbert plays the leader of the troupe and gets massive screentime for his romps. "Wee Willie" Davis, a wrestler is on hand to play the strong man. The villains are Lief Erickson and Edgar Barrier and they glower as necessary. 

This is an action-filled romp, and quite diverting. I recommend it at cheap prices. 

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