Terrific, joyous fun, full of youthful good spirits. This was Tony Curtis' debut as a star and Universal didn't stint - there seems to be an ample budget, plenty of starlets and extras, delightful production design and colourful photography. The story is solid, unoriginal and strong (from Theodore Dreiser!!) - a royal baby is about to be killed but the assassin (Everett Sloan) can't go through with it so raises him as his own to be a thief.
Curtis makes his debt bare chested and swimming, as if the filmmakers wanted to ensure he got off to a start that played to his strengths. But there's more to him than a healthy torso - he's got looks and a lot of charm. The Bronx accent isn't too distracting here - I think because it's set in such a fantasy Arabia (it jarred for me more in Kansas Raiders). Even better than he is Piper Laurie, wonderful value as a feisty red head, a sort of teen Maureen O'Hara, who is a nimble thief, cute as hell, and dead keen on Curtis.
The screenwriters have joyously raided the Koran, and Arabic histories and legends for names and incidents. I'm sure it's all distorted horribly but at least they made some vague stab at authenticity. Lots of action, silly dialogue, dancing girls, colour and youthful good spirits.
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