Omar Khayyam (1957)

During the 11th century, Persian poet Omar Khayyam's lover marries the Shah but the Shah, whose life is threatened by a sect of assassins, appoints Omar royal advisor.

Director:

William Dieterle

Writer:

Barré Lyndon

Stars:

Cornel Wilde, Michael Rennie, Debra Paget

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cornel Wilde	...	Omar Khayyam
Michael Rennie	...	Hasani Sabah
Debra Paget	...	Sharain
John Derek	...	Young Prince Malik
Raymond Massey	...	The Shah
Yma Sumac	...	Karina
Margaret Hayes	...	Queen Zarada
Joan Taylor	...	Yaffa
Sebastian Cabot	...	The Nizam
Perry Lopez	...	Prince Ahmud
Morris Ankrum	...	Imam Nowaffak
Abraham Sofaer	...	Tutush
Edward Platt	...	Jayhan
James Griffith	...	Buzorg
Peter Adams	...	Master Herald

Storyline

Omar Khayyam was among the greatest of Persian poets. He was also a brilliant mathematician. Though his quatrains were written in the 11th century, they are still popular the world over. The details of his life are unknown, so this movie invents a biography for him and includes in it his real achievements - the invention of a new calendar and the penning of those epigrammatic poems. This film has him losing the love of his life to his ruler, and foiling an assassin sect's plot to kill that ruler, the empire's shah.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | omar khayyam character | 11th century | seljuks | seljuk empire | 

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Taglines:

Riding high with spectacular action and excitement !

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This picture marked the last film-score credit for Victor Young, the accomplished Hollywood composer, recording artist and songwriter of melodic standards - "Street of Dreams", "Love Letters", "Stella by Starlight", "My Foolish Heart", "When I Fall in Love", "Around the World".

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Goofs

As Omar leaves the council of the Grand Master.

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Quotes

Yaffa: Slaves are trained to please, wives are not.

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Connections

Featured in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005)

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Soundtracks

Lament
Written by Moises Vivanco
Performed by Yma Sumac

User Reviews

Great story, average movie

"Omar Khayyam" is in many ways a typical 50s Hollywood oriental sword and sandal epic but with a few twists and tremendous (unmet) potential. The actual story of three friends (Hassan, Omar and Nizam) goes back hundreds of years and is pretty engaging. The historical personalities of Omar and Hassan al-Sabbah are quite interesting characters. There is potentially a great film here.

The actual production is not great but it has some nice things: Michael Rennie gives a great performance as Hassani. It is one of his best things, right up there with the alien in "The Day the Earth Stood Still." It also has Raymond Massey and the great Abraham Sofaer, a distinctive character actor, as Tutush, the Sultan's brother. It has a fine score by Victor Young and some neat matte paintings of Alamut. Some of the lines are great: "I know of some other heads that should be sealed with wax and honey." But in the end it is too formulaic of a Hollywood spectacular. Cornel Wilde is too stolid. Such a rich historical backdrop and fascinating subject matter is worthy of a better film.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 August 1957 (Finland)

Also Known As:

The Loves of Omar Khayyam

Filming Locations:

Indio, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1