Arabian Nights (1942 film)
| Arabian Nights | |
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Original film poster
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| Directed by | John Rawlins |
| Produced by | Walter Wanger |
| Written by |
Screenplay: Michael Hogan Additional dialogue: True Boardman |
| Starring |
Sabu Jon Hall Maria Montez Leif Erickson Billy Gilbert Turhan Bey Shemp Howard |
| Music by | Frank Skinner |
| Cinematography |
W. Howard Greene Milton R. Krasner William V. Skall |
| Edited by | Philip Cahn |
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Production
company |
Walter Wanger Productions
Mighty Productions |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $904,765 |
| Box office | $3,453,416 |
Arabian Nights is a 1942 adventure film starring Sabu, Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Leif Erickson and directed by John Rawlins. The film is derived from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights but owes more to the imagination of Universal Pictures than the original Arabian stories. Unlike other films in the genre (The Thief of Baghdad), it features no monsters or supernatural elements.
The film is one of series of "exotic" tales released by Universal during the war years. Others include Cobra Woman, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and White Savage. This is the first film by Universal to use the three-strip Technicolor film process.
The story starts at a harem (which strangely has the Taj Mahal in sight, even though it is supposed to be located in Persia), where the elderly overseer bids his young charges to read the story of Haroun al-Rashid (Hall) and his wife Sherazade (Montez), unfolding the film's plot in the process.
Sherazade, a dancer in a wandering circus owned by Ahmad (Billy Gilbert) - whose troupe also includes Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin, who have seemingly fallen on hard times -, had captured the attention of Kamar (Erickson), the brother of caliph Haroun al-Rashid. In his infatuation with her, and because of a prophecy which names her as the future queen, Kamar had attempted to seize the throne, but was captured and sentenced to slow death by exposure. As Haroun visits his brother, for whom he feels pity, Kamar's men storm the palace and free their leader; outnumbered, Haroun is forced to flee. He manages to get near the plaza where Sherazade's circus is performing and is spotted by the young acrobat Ali Ben Ali (Sabu), who finds out his identity and decides to hide him in the circus, confiding only in Sherazade (though he does not tell her about the fugitive's true identity). Upon awakening from the wounds he had received in his flight, Haroun beholds Sherazade and instantly falls in love with her.
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