Thief of Damascus (1952)

A young man gathers a group of friends and adventurers to help battle an evil sultan.

Director:

Will Jason

Writer:

Robert E. Kent (original story and screenplay)

Stars:

Paul Henreid, John Sutton, Jeff Donnell

Cast

Cast overview:
Paul Henreid	...	General Abu Amdar
John Sutton	...	Khalid
Jeff Donnell	...	Sheherazade
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Sinbad (as Lon Chaney)
Elena Verdugo	...	Neela
Helen Gilbert	...	Princess Zafir
Robert Clary	...	Aladdin
Edward Colmans	...	Sultan Raudah
Nelson Leigh	...	Ben Jammal
Philip Van Zandt	...	Ali Baba

Storyline

In the world of Arabian Nights, Abu Amdar (Paul Henreid), head general of the Khalid, who is attacking Damascus, arranges a truce between the city and the Khalid's forces, and the Khalid (John Sutton') is furious. Amdar escapes to help the Persians, a decision prompted by his love for the Damascan Princes Zafir (Helen Gilbert). With the aid of Sheherazade (Jeff Donnell), Alladin (Robert Clary), Sinbad (Lon Chaney Jr., Ali Baba (Philip Van Zandt) and less-than-forty of his thieves, Abu Amdar soon sets things right in old Damascus...and Columbia's back lot.

---

Plot Keywords:

year 634 | 7th century | sultan | sinbad | sheherazade | 

---

Taglines:

Aladdin! Sinbad! Ali Baba! Scheherezade!

---

Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Romance

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Abu Andar, Held von Damaskus

Filming Locations:

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

A Sam Katzman Production

Before Roger Corman there were the B movie departments. At Warner Brothers they had Bryan Foy, at Paramount they had the Dollar Bills and at Columbia, which was a B movie Studio for 90% of their productions anyway, they had Sam Katzman.

This means, for this flick, occasional A movie intellectual support Paul Henreid, looking as depressed as he did in NOW VOYAGER or CASABLANCA, as an action hero, horror lead Lon Chaney Jr. in support for marquee value.... and the rest of the movie, for some reason, strikes me as having been cast out of a Brooklyn burlesque house: girls from the stage, extras from the audience. Director Will Jason came out of short subjects and directs the whole thing with not too serious an air. The set design looks like the designer went into the prop storehouse, had everyone grab everything they could carry and heaped it all together.

The net effect is ridiculous rather than funny, depressing rather than dramatic. Unless you want to see the hordes of the Middle East riding over landscape like American cowboys -- I've no idea who was directing the second unit, but it's clearly cowboys in those pointed helmets, wielding scimitars -- give this one a miss.