Friday, June 08, 2007

Movie review - "Bagdad" (1950) ***

A generation of Western children gained most of their knowledge of Islam from tits and sand "Easterns" - colourful exotic entertainments set in the Middle East, with dashing heroes flashing sabres and beautiful veiled princesses. There could be worse introductions to a culture, I suppose - at least it gave some (admittedly very broad) basics about Allah, praying to Mecca, Arabic society, etc.

Red haired Maureen O'Hara isn't perhaps terribly believable as an Arab princess (maybe mum was Irish) - but she's perfectly cast to be the heroine in this sort of movie, looking stunning in Technicolour, all haughty manners and imperiousness, mixed with bravery in spirit. She returns home from schooling in England to find dad has been killed and her family's fortune gone. The responsible group are a gang of robbers called The Black Shadow (an imposing group of villains, all dressed in black). She thinks their leader is Paul Christian (a handsome moustached lunk out from Austria who never made it but is a perfectly fine hero in a George Montgomery sort of way) but it turns out to be John Sutton (a worthy villain) and good old Vincent Price.

The movie is set during Turkey's occupation of Baghdad, so it has a more "real" quality than other Easterns, i.e. no genies or magic carpets. The finale is a bit confusing, with attacks and Christian coming to the rescue and the baddies beaten a bit too quickly. But there is plenty of action and clashing swords, a cast in good form, O'Hara has a high old time in a succession of fetching outfits (one as a Gypsy - very nice), Russell Metty's photography is top-notch. O'Hara performs three numbers one of which is sort of musical number a la The Desert Song, which is a bit weird.

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