Bagdad (1949)

An English-educated Bedouin princess returns to Bagdad to find her father murdered, a corrupt ruling Pasha in charge and various local factions warring for control of the Caliphate.

Director:

Charles Lamont

Writers:

Tamara Hovey (story), Robert Hardy Andrews (screenplay)

Stars:

Maureen O'Hara, Paul Hubschmid, Vincent Price

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Maureen O'Hara	...	Princess Marjan
Paul Hubschmid	...	Hassan (as Paul Christian)
Vincent Price	...	Pasha Ali Nadim
John Sutton	...	Raizul
Jeff Corey	...	Mohammed Jao
Frank Puglia	...	Saleel
David Wolfe	...	Mahmud
Fritz Leiber	...	Emir
Otto Waldis	...	Marengo
Leon Belasco	...	Beggar
Anne P. Kramer	...	Tirza (as Ann Pearce)

Storyline

A Bedouin princess returns to Bagdad after being educated in England, only to find that her father has been treacherously murdered by the head of the Black Robes, a group of renegades. She is hosted by the Pasha, who is the corrupt representative of the national government. She is also courted by Prince Hassan, who is falsely accused of the murder. The plot revolves around her attempts to bring the killer to justice while being courted by the Pasha.

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Plot Keywords:

bedouin | princess | pasha | prince | england | 

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Taglines:

Lips against lips... sword against sword... in the world's fabulous city of sin!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die schwarzen Teufel von Bagdad

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A howling female camel ruined take after take. The camel's owner finally determined that her howls were cries of passion, as she had had fallen in love...with Vincent Price. (From "Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography" by Victoria Price.)

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Quotes

Hassan: I'm not leaving, your going to ride to my people. It's dangerous for you here.
Princess Marjan: If I leave How will you keep the soldier entertained? Will you dance for them? And Sing?

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Soundtracks

Bagdad
Music by Frank Skinner
Lyrics by Jack Brooks
Performed by Maureen O'Hara

User Reviews

An ¨Arabian Night¨ story with the lovely O'Hara taking on a corrupt governor and several adventures

It is a rousing , moving , stirring tale , though mediocre , and with action as well as thrills without much sense . And it packs a colorful photography in Technicolor , with color de Luxe . Adventure and thrilling movie and as title indicates set in Bagdad in the turbulent Oriental wars . Princess Marjan (Maureen O'Hara) , the daughter of a Bedouin wealthy , returns home from attending a college in England, and finds her father has been killed and Hassan (Paul Hubschmid or Paul Christian), the leader of a suspicious bunch known as the Black Riders , the main suspect . Leaders of the machinations against her father's people are the military governor Turkish Pasha Al Nadim (Vincent Price) who is lurking sinisterly , and a cousin (John Sutton) of a prince , as well . This is a film in which all the magic of thrilling Bagdad is shown ¿ . Lips against lips... sword against sword... in the world's fabulous city of sin! The picture of 1001 pleasures! ...1001 adventures! ...1001 delights!

Oriental adventure with all the usual ingredients , including glowing colour and distinctive photography in Cinemascope . Adventure and stirring movie set in Bagdad , including bandits , a nasty governor , gorgeous dancers , intriguing sheiks , and many other things . Maureen O'Hara gives an average acting the daughter of a sheik who swears to avenge his daddy and is soon involved the intrigue and plots between the Bedouins and the Arabs. Along the way , she dances and sings lousy songs . O'Hara managed to spring from this ridiculous camp Oriental Adventure outing to stardom . Maureen played brave females in several Adventure/Pirate movies during the 40s and 50s in Universal Pictures , similar to Yvonne DeCarlo ,in fact the latter was originally cast as Princess Marjan. However, she had recently been ill and lost a lot of weight, so much that the producers decided to replace her with Maureen O'Hara . Maureen interpreted various Muslim girls in Simbad the Sailor , Flame of Araby and Bagdad . She also performed the daughter of a powerful lord in The Black Swain , a valiant aristocrat in The Spanish Main , a feared pirate woman called Spitfire in Against All Flags and a French countess in Trípoli . Later on , in 1952 she starred At Sword point as Musketeer Athos' daughter , an untamed Australian girl in Kangaroo and finally the known Lady Godiva . There's also the ordinary good-looking , handsome partenaire , the German Paul Christian who starred a lot of adventure movies , as well . Adding a good support cast , such as : John Sutton , Jeff Corey , Frank Puglia , David Wolfe , Fritz Leiber and special mention for Vincent Price who often played baddie roles . Vincent is well , but this is an inferior vehicule for his high skills .

Colorfully produced by Robert Arthur and Universal International , being accompanied by brilliant and glimmer cinematography carried out by director of photography by Russell Metty who photographed numerous super-productions . Shooting in the ordinary locations from Alabama Hills, Lone Pine , Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park , Santa Clarita, Universal Studios backlot , Iverson Ranch , Lane, Chatsworth , Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California . Thrilling as well as moving musical score by Frank Skinner , including Oriental sounds . The motion picture was regularly directed by the prolific artisan Charles Lamont . He churned out numerous one- and two-reel comedies for various producers, including Mack Sennett and Al Christie, and began directing features in the mid-'30s. Lamont was a staple of such independent studios as Chesterfield and Republic, for whom he turned out many action, western and comedy films, but he found his niche at Universal in the late 1930s, and directed several comedies for Universal's top comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, including : Abbot and Costello meet the mummy , Abbott and Costello meet the Keystone Korps , Abbott and Costello Go to Mars , Meet Captain Kidd , Abbott and Costello meet the invisible man , Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , In the Foregn Legion , Hit the ice ; furthermore , other comedies as : Francis in the haunted house and Ma and Pa Kattle series such as : Ma and Pa Kattle on vacation , Ma and Pa Kattle in the Ozarks , Ma and Pa go to town . And he made noir cinema as : The dark hour , International crime , A shot in dark and other Oriental adventures : Salome where she danced and Flame of Araby with Maureen O'Hara again .