ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP (1917)
Article #644 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-19-2002
Posting date: 5-14-2003

Aladdin is tricked by an evil wizard into retrieving a magic lamp, and is then trapped in the cavern where the treasure is hidden. However, he discovers the lamp is the home of a genie.

Apparently, only four of the eight reels of this work survive; however, the story seems complete and I see no real gaps in the narrative. Apparently, it was part of a series of movies in which most of the main parts were played by children; Aladdin, the sultan’s daughter, her maid, the wizard, and his sidekick are all played by children (the Sultan, Aladdin’s father and the genie are all adults; the genie is played by Elmo Lincoln). They are all good performers, though the villain actually twiddles his moustache, showing it’s all not to be taken too seriously. Also, they show a lot more in the bathing scene than they would have had the performers been adults. The most interesting point in the narrative, though, is when the sultan (an adult, as said before) engages in the most childish behavior to get his daughter to marry the evil wizard. An entertaining oddity, this.