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IMDbPro

Kismet

  • 19441944
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Marlene Dietrich and Ronald Colman in Kismet (1944)
In ancient Baghdad, Hafiz the King of Beggars dreams of untold riches and of marrying his daughter to a real prince.
Play trailer2:55
1 Video
72 Photos
AdventureFantasy
In ancient Baghdad, Hafiz the King of Beggars dreams of untold riches and of marrying his daughter to a real prince.In ancient Baghdad, Hafiz the King of Beggars dreams of untold riches and of marrying his daughter to a real prince.In ancient Baghdad, Hafiz the King of Beggars dreams of untold riches and of marrying his daughter to a real prince.
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
    • William Dieterle
    • John Meehan(screenplay)
    • Edward Knoblock(play)
  • Stars
    • Ronald Colman
    • Marlene Dietrich
    • James Craig
    • William Dieterle
    • John Meehan(screenplay)
    • Edward Knoblock(play)
  • Stars
    • Ronald Colman
    • Marlene Dietrich
    • James Craig
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 27User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 4 Oscars

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:55
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos72

    Ann Blyth in Kismet (1944)
    "Kismet" Marlene Dietrich, Ronald Colman 1944/MGM
    "Kismet" Marlene Dietrich. 1944/MGM
    "Kismet" Marlene Dietrich 1944/MGM
    Marlene Dietrich in Kismet (1944)
    Ronald Colman, James Craig, and Anna Demetrio in Kismet (1944)
    Marlene Dietrich and Ronald Colman in Kismet (1944)
    Marlene Dietrich in Kismet (1944)
    Marlene Dietrich in Kismet (1944)
    Marlene Dietrich in Kismet (1944)
    Marlene Dietrich in Kismet (1944)
    Marlene Dietrich in Kismet (1944)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ronald Colman
    Ronald Colman
    • Hafiz
    Marlene Dietrich
    Marlene Dietrich
    • Jamilla
    James Craig
    James Craig
    • Caliph
    Edward Arnold
    Edward Arnold
    • The Grand Vizier
    Hugh Herbert
    Hugh Herbert
    • Feisal
    Joy Page
    Joy Page
    • Marsinah
    • (as Joy Ann Page)
    Florence Bates
    Florence Bates
    • Karsha
    Harry Davenport
    Harry Davenport
    • Agha
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    • Moolah
    Robert Warwick
    Robert Warwick
    • Alfife
    Eddie Abdo
    • Aide to Mansur
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Jimmy Ames
    • Major Domo
    • (uncredited)
    Morris Ankrum
    Morris Ankrum
    • The Caliph's Messenger
    • (uncredited)
    Leslie Anthony
    • Handmaiden
    • (uncredited)
    Lynn Arlen
    • Handmaiden
    • (uncredited)
    Noble Blake
    • Nubian Slave
    • (uncredited)
    Carla Boehm
    • Handmaiden
    • (uncredited)
    Dick Botiller
    Dick Botiller
    • Aide to Mansur
    • (uncredited)
      • William Dieterle
      • John Meehan(screenplay)
      • Edward Knoblock(play)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The decision to paint Dietrich's legs gold was a last resort. Initially, they had made fine mesh "tights" for her, like chain-mail. It took several hours to close the links up the back using jeweler's pliers. However, after she was encased in the mesh, it was discovered she couldn't move, so they undid the tights and resorted to gold paint.
    • Goofs
      Ronald Colman's character eats with his left hand, which is taboo in Arabic culture.
    • Quotes

      Karsha: [Referring to Hafiz's daughter, Marsinah] You think she's going to wither away waiting for your fairy tales to come true?

      Hafiz: She's waiting for her fate in all its splendor.

      Karsha: The fate for a beggar's daughter is a camel boy.

      Hafiz: Silence, misery!

    • Connections
      Featured in Legends of World Cinema: Marlene Dietrich
    • Soundtracks
      Tell Me, Tell Me, Evening Star
      (1944) (uncredited)

      Music by Harold Arlen

      Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

      Partially sung by Marlene Dietrich

      Sung by Joy Page (dubbed by Doreen Tryden)

    User reviews27

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    KISMET (William Dieterle, 1944) ***
    More Arabian Nights stuff, this time emanating from the studio where the lion roared: according to the Internet Movie Database, there are twenty (count 'em) films that go by the name of KISMET and, although the Vincente Minnelli-Howard Keel musical version is the best-known of the lot, this earlier straight adaptation starring Ronald Colman and Marlene Dietrich is perhaps the best-regarded. For the record, I do have the former on VHS but won't have time to catch it just now and, of all the rest, I'm mostly interested in the 1930 German version (there was another one made in Hollywood the same year) which, like the film under review, was directed by William Dieterle! Speaking of which, I don't quite understand the reasoning of Warner Brothers (who have inherited DVD distribution rights to the MGM film library) behind recently releasing the 1955 version on this format on its own (so to speak, since it actually forms part of a Musical Collection) rather than coupled with the earlier version.

    Aged 53, Ronald Colman still cuts a strikingly handsome figure (even when dressed as a beggar) and his silvery hairline is amusingly obscured by the most unseemly of turbans for all but one scene in the film's latter stages. Equally splendid-looking is his 43-year old German co-star who, in the film's most celebrated sequence that was, ironically, later cut for TV screenings because of its 'erotic' content(!), has her legs painted in gold for a veiled dance number before the court of evil Grand Vizier Edward Arnold and Colman (who dubs himself the King of Beggars by day but moonlights as a sovereign of a far-away land). Given the maturing age of the two leads, it's no wonder that two younger actors were recruited in the persons of James Craig (as the Caliph of Bagdad who likes to go incognito through the streets of his kingdom as a gardener's son) and the late Joy Page (Colman's secreted daughter); she had made a memorable screen debut in CASABLANCA (1942) and died earlier this year aged 83.

    The cast is rounded up by Florence Bates (as Colman's nagging in-law), Harry Davenport (as Craig's wily adviser) and Hugh Herbert (as one of Colman's would-be comic-relief sidekicks). As was to be expected from Hollywood's premier studio, no expense was spared in bringing this opulent costumer to the screen – including shooting in eye-filling Technicolor amidst impressively-constructed sets – and this effort was rewarded by garnering the film four Academy Award nominations in that year's ceremony…although, as had been the case (and would be again) with similar Oriental ventures, the nominees all went home empty-handed!
    helpful•16
    3
    • Bunuel1976
    • Dec 21, 2008

    Details

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    • Release date
      • October 1944 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 40 minutes

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