Harum Scarum (1965)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Gene Nelson

Writer:

Gerald Drayson Adams (written by)

Release Date:

24 November 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Musical

Tagline:

THE GOLDEN AGE OF ROMANCE AND SONG!

Plot:

American singer Johnny Tyrone is enlisted by sinister forces to assassinate an Arab king whose daughter he has fallen in love with.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Arab | Assassination | Karate | Midget

Cast

Elvis Presley	...	Johnny Tyronne
Mary Ann Mobley	...	Princess Shalimar
Fran Jeffries	...	Aishah
Michael Ansara	...	Prince Dragna
Jay Novello	...	Zacha
Phillip Reed	...	King Toranshah (as Philip Reed)
Theodore Marcuse	...	Sinan (as Theo Marcuse)
Billy Barty	...	Baba
Dirk Harvey	...	Makar
Jack Costanzo	...	Julna
Larry Chance	...	Capt. Herat
Barbara Werle	...	Leilah
Brenda Benet	...	Emerald
Gail Gilmore	...	Sapphire
Wilda Taylor	...	Amethyst

Also Known As:

Harem Holiday
Harem Scarum (USA) (working title)
In My Harem (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | USA:Approved (PCA #20983)

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Four-Leaf Productions

Trivia:

Elvis Presley believed that this film would be more dramatic than his usual films, so he was very disappointed with the script.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the climactic fight scene (set at night), the lighting shifts back and forth several times between torchlit darkness and broad daylight.

Quotes:

Johnny Tyronne: [after learning that the King will not execute his brother] Be a nice King and don't exile him to the U.S.A.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Golden Girls: Sophia's Wedding: Part 1 (#4.6)" (1988)

Soundtrack:

HEY LITTLE GIRL

Maybe Elvis needed Bob Hope

Colonel Tom Parker who usually took great care in the movie properties acquired for Elvis Presley must have cringed with the lemon he got Elvis stuck in here. IMDb says that Colonel Tom thought that Harum Scarum might have needed a talking camel so that there would be no question this was a comedy. Obviously the Colonel had the Road to Morocco in mind. But I'll go one better. Elvis the singer may have needed a comedian along with him, like Bob Hope.

Back when the Road to Morocco was made it was satirizing those sword and sandal desert epics that were popular back in the day. Usually those were about some mythical kingdom. We don't have mythical kingdoms any more, they're not in vogue in Hollywood. Poor Elvis was stuck in genre that was way out of date.

Also I don't think anyone had any doubt that when they went to see the Road to Morocco they were seeing a comedy. The gags here just fall flat. Now I doubt Elvis could have gotten Bob Hope, but a comedian of Elvis's generation to co-star might have brought off the comedy, but only might have.

Elvis is in good voice, but none of the songs from here are especially memorable. Certainly not like Jailhouse Rock or Blue Hawaii.

Harum Scarum belongs at the bottom of Elvis's movie credits. Only devoted fans of the King will like this and maybe not even them.