Two decades before her debacle of the movie version of the Broadway musical "Mame", Lucille Ball had a truly wretched film which she herself had badmouthed. It was all to get out of that Columbia contract, hopefully to appear in the big Cecil B. Demille smash, "The Greatest Show on Earth", but of course, that didn't happen. Instead, she ended up on TV and the rest was immortality.
Lucy's a princess here, beyond miscast as an obviously non-Arab Arab princess. This is miscasting at it's worst, with Lucy acting like she's ready to have a cat fight with the first actual Arab to come along and reclaim the title she seems to have stolen from them. She's the sister of the caliph, the subject of affections by the caliph's right hand man (Raymond Burr) who is twice as evil as the usurper caliph, having nefarious intentions himself.
Years before, the rightful caliph was murdered, and his heir is sent off on a magic carpet, growing up to be John Agar, a common thief. Hired as the caliph's doctor simply because he cured his hiccups, he soon finds out his real identity and becomes involved with both Lucy and Patricia Medina, a peasant girl who is no Maria Montez or Yvonne De Carlo.
Corny to the end, this is a quota quickie (produced by poverty row producer Sam Katzman) that was perfect for Saturday matinée audiences but forgotten soon after. Burr is appropriately sinister, with Lucy obviously phoning in a performance. George Tobias provides comedy relief while the actual carpet is pretty impressive allegedly flying through the air with the greatest of ease.
Lucy's a princess here, beyond miscast as an obviously non-Arab Arab princess. This is miscasting at it's worst, with Lucy acting like she's ready to have a cat fight with the first actual Arab to come along and reclaim the title she seems to have stolen from them. She's the sister of the caliph, the subject of affections by the caliph's right hand man (Raymond Burr) who is twice as evil as the usurper caliph, having nefarious intentions himself.
Years before, the rightful caliph was murdered, and his heir is sent off on a magic carpet, growing up to be John Agar, a common thief. Hired as the caliph's doctor simply because he cured his hiccups, he soon finds out his real identity and becomes involved with both Lucy and Patricia Medina, a peasant girl who is no Maria Montez or Yvonne De Carlo.
Corny to the end, this is a quota quickie (produced by poverty row producer Sam Katzman) that was perfect for Saturday matinée audiences but forgotten soon after. Burr is appropriately sinister, with Lucy obviously phoning in a performance. George Tobias provides comedy relief while the actual carpet is pretty impressive allegedly flying through the air with the greatest of ease.
