Son of Sinbad (1955)

Legendary pirate and adventurer Sinbad is in single-minded pursuit of two things: beautiful women and a substance called Greek Fire--an early version of gunpowder.

Director:

Ted Tetzlaff

Writers:

Jack Pollexfen, Aubrey Wisberg,

Stars:

Dale Robertson, Sally Forrest, Lili St. Cyr

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dale Robertson	...	Sinbad
Sally Forrest	...	Ameer
Lili St. Cyr	...	Nerissa
Vincent Price	...	Omar Khayyam
Mari Blanchard	...	Kristina
Leon Askin	...	Khalif
Jay Novello	...	Jiddah
Raymond Greenleaf	...	Simon Aristides
Nejla Ates	...	Dancer in market
Kalantan	...	Dancer in desert
Ian MacDonald	...	Murad
Donald Randolph	...	Councillor

Storyline

Sinbad was pursuing a secret weapon: Greek Fire. Attributed to the ancient Greeks, it was composed of pitch or bitumen, sulfur, and other ingredients. It was used in naval warfare and the Romans also made use of it but with the fall of the ancient Western world, it was temporarily forgotten, but it was rediscovered by the Arabs from whom European Crusaders also learned the method of making it.

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Plot Keywords:

sinbad | secret weapon | arab | fire | harem | 

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Taglines:

HOLD ON TO YOUR TURBANS! Here comes Adventure's boldest son!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 June 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nights in a Harem

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in 1953, not released until 1955 mostly due to censorship troubles over Lili St. Cyr's risqué belly-dance.

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Quotes

Sinbad: [Outside a cave] Open Sesame, OPEN SESAME
Kristina: [to a donkey tied to a contraption that opens the doorway] Sesame

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Connections

Featured in Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies (2000)

User Reviews

Outstanding 1-star Eastern

A couple years ago I taped Son of Sinbad but gave up on it when two of the early scenes involved a surprisingly long, mediocre dance sequence and a surprisingly long dialog between Lil' Sinbad and Omar Khayyam. But I'm an inveterate fan of the Eastern genre, and by 8 July 2008, when TCM ran a morning of Sinbad movies, I'd forgotten my earlier dismissal and gave the film a longer chance. The Houston Chronicle's TV Week gave it only one star, which is close enough, but a little patience is redeemed by offbeat treats and occasionally upscale production values.

As for the treats, Dale Robertson is a game Sinbad, Vincent Price is a trooper as Omar Khayyam, and eventually the onslaught of female pulchritude becomes embarrassingly charming in its exuberant abundance of blonde and redheaded Arab harem girls, sheer hosiery, intensive coiffures, and tear-away clothing that makes many of the dances more like G-rated strip routines. Wordsmith is right that the extended dance scenes throw off the film's pacing, but the action keeps recovering its pace, and the sets glow with the candy colors of 50s childhood.