ARABIAN NIGHTS (1942)
Article #311 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 1-20-2002
Posting date: 6-6-2002

The Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid has his throne usurped by his evil brother Kamar, and finds himself thrown in with a beautiful dancer and a troupe of performers.

The cast has Jon Hall, Maria Montez, and Sabu; now you know most of what there is to know about the movie. It also has Turhan Bey and Acquanetta. Far and away my favorite credits in the movie are for Aladdin (John Qualen, mostly known for playing Scandinavians) who spends most of the movie rubbing every lamp he can find, and Sinbad (Shemp Howard—yes, THAT Shemp Howard; did you think there was more than one?). It also has Billy Gilbert, who fights by bumping into people with his belly (to the sound of a timpani going “Boinngg!”) and dresses up as a woman at one point, so this should give you an idea of the level of humor in the movie. The color is beautiful, which is as usual for these types of movies. Believe it or not, I enjoyed this movie.