Name: A Thousand and One Nights
Genre: Fantasy
Released: 1945-07-20
Rating: 46
Cast: Cornel Wilde, Evelyn Keyes, Phil Silvers, Adele Jergens, Dusty Anderson

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jordan m

Phil Silvers added just enough to the Aladdin story to make this one worth watching. It's actually pretty funny to see this, the third Aladdin movie of the 1940s, going out of its way to be shot in vibrant color with great costumes when that's exactly what the others had done. These would stand out from some of their black & white peers but they're nearly indistinguishable from each other from a technical standpoint because they all went for the same flavor of lavish. The best part of the movie was the tailor; all of his dialogue was excellent.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

A Thousand and One Nights is a adventure fantasy film based on the Arabian classic and starring Evelyn Keyes, Phil Silvers, Adele Jergens and Cornel Wilde. It is a movie full of charm. It is not trying to be a very dark and serious adaption of the classic Aladdin tale. All it wants to be is a quirky comedy fantasy adventure. A good comparison would be I dream of Genie meets The Adventures of Robin Hood. It is the kind of movie you watch with a cheeseburger and a malt because it oozes 1945 charm. The effects aren't realistic but they are very fun to watch and make for some humorous scenes. And there is some good action (including a swashbuckling sword dual at the climax of the film). The best characters are the lovely Babs the Genie (played by Evelyn Keyes) as a lovely if not slightly mischievous genie and Phil Silvers as Abdullah (a jive talking man born a thousand years before his time). The only problem is that some of the songs are a mixed bag.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Audience Member

a spoof of the hall/montez epics

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

Hilarious Version of an Arabian Nights Fantasy--Pure escapism!!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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sure it's a fun movie to watch, the ginnie was really pretty :)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

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Audience Member

Bespectacled comedian Phil Silvers and flirtatious genie Evelyn Keyes steal the show in the Alfred E. Green romantic, tongue-in-cheek,Arabian fantasy A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, a gorgeous Technicolored Columbia Pictures release that teems with anachronisms galore. Basically, the Phil Silvers character wears the right clothes but his dialogue bristles with 1940s slang, such as the use of the word groovy. The leading man, Aladdin of Cathay (youthful, Hungarian-born Cornel Wilde of HIGH SIERRA), sees a caravan enter the city with an elegant litter and steals within the contraption to feast his eyes upon the lovely daughter of the Kamar Al-Kir, Princess Armina (Adele Jergens of ARMORED CAR ROBBERY), and he falls in love with her. Not surprisingly, she shares his affections. Later, Aladdin and his wise-cracking, pick-pocket thief sidekick, Abdullah (Phil Silvers of ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT), are dispatched to find a lantern in a cave by a sorcerer who tries to cheat them out of it. Aladdin discovers that when he rubs the lantern, a genie named Babs (Evelyn Keyes of GONE WITH THE WIND) appears to grant him a wish. The circumstances under which Aladdin makes this discovery is when he refuses to give the sorcerer the lantern after he has trapped them in a cave. Early, our heroes had to elude Meanwhile, the villainous twin brother of the Sultan, Prince Hadji (Denis Hoey of UNCERTAIN GLORY), persuades the Grand Wazir AbuHassan (Philip Van Zandt of HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN) to join him and remain mum about his masquerade. They imprison the real Sultan in another of his palaces far away,but the evil twin brother overlooks a wound that brother acquired later that he did not know about. When they catch Aladdin flirting with Princess Armina, they imprison him, but Abdullah and he manage to escape through the intervention of the hand-maiden of the princess who slips them the keys to their cell while the guards are playing gin rummy. Aladdin persuades Babs to transform him into a noble man because Arminia is not allowed to marry below her station in life. Mind you, all this time Babs has a terrific crush on Aladdin and does everything that she can to dissuade him from marrying the princess. Eventually, Babs pulls a prank that robs Aladdin of her and he loses everything and is exposed. The fake Sultan orders both of them hanged, but Arminia promises to marry the Grand Wizir in exchange for him turning them loose. This prompts Aladdin to warble a misogynist song in the equivalent of an Arabian saloon while Abdullah contrives his own song where he describes all the women that he loves, including gay women. Clearly, gay in this instance did not refer to lesbians or the repressive Production Code Adminstration would have forced Columbia to remove it from the screenplay. Aladdin gets to swash and buckle in the last half-hour with the fake Sultan as they have a sword fight. For the record, Wilde was a member of the 1936 U.S. Olympic fencing team so he knew how to handle foils. The ending is a slick trick and the writing is above-average, except in one instance where are hero is sent on a wild goose chase to get the lantern after the hand maiden of the princess throws it out the window to a beggar. Scenarists Richard English, Jack Henley and Wilfred H. Petitt penned the lively screenplay that stipulates that anybody who uses the genie must retain the lantern if they want to maintain the changes in their respective lifestyle. If you lose the lantern, you loose everything that you received from the genie. The genie, who likes to be called Babs, not only creates an army for the impostor but also makes him a man high enough in status so that he is allowed to see her. Lots of fun, especially Rex Ingram as a giant. This movie with its happy ending, lush production values, and the antics of Silvers and Keyes is worthwatching!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Alfred E. Green

Director

Cornel Wilde

Aladdin

Evelyn Keyes

The Genie

Phil Silvers

Abdullah

Adele Jergens

Princess Armina

Dusty Anderson

Novira

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Silly escapist romantic fantasy film that's played with a wink and a nod.

Rated: C

Feb 10, 2007

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Synopsis

When Aladdin (Cornel Wilde) becomes smitten with Princess Armina (Adele Jergens), his attempts to woo her are met with threats from her father, a sinister sultan (Dennis Hoey). After finding a magical lamp, Aladdin, accompanied by his wacky sidekick Abdullah (Phil Silvers), conjures up a lovely genie (Evelyn Keyes) who aids him in his quest to win the hand of the princess. Troubles arise when the genie realizes that she's fallen for Aladdin herself and tries to sabotage his courtship of Armina.

Director: Alfred E. Green
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Genre: Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 20, 1945, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012

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