The Wizard of Baghdad
(1960) color Cinemascope 92m
With: Dick Shawn (Genii-Ali Mahmud), Diane Baker (Princess Yasmin), Barry Coe (Prince Husan), John Van Dreelen (Jullnar, Sultan of Cario), Robert F. Simon (Shamadin, Yasmin's father), Vaughn Taylor (Norodeen, Husan's father), Michael David (Chieftain Meroki), Stanley Adams (Warden Kvetch), William Edmonson (Asmodeus, king of the genies)
***
SYNOPSIS: Junior Genie Ali Mamud returns from his latest assignment. His boss, Asmodius, king of the wizards, berates him for his terrible performance over the years and gives the recalcitrant magus one last chance to progress to full wizardhood. His next assignment is Baghdad, where the King must choose a successor; his quack astrologer is executed, and Ali-Mamud is made the junior Genie of Baghdad. A young prince named Husan is the rightful heir to the throne, a young princess named Yasmin to be his bride.
A floating star tells the Califf to visit cavern of the Oracle, who predicts great upheaval in the city. Ali Mamud arrives in Baghdad, and asks directions from a young Aladdin. The Genie heads for the nearest tavern, for his weaknesses, are wine and women.
Meanwhile, the evil sultan Jolar and his men invade the city and kill the good King. Taking over, the Califf's right hand man offers his daughter, princess Yasmin, to the sultan as his bride, as she is the rightful legal heir to the throne. Thinking it over, the sultan eyes the small child with unbridled lust.
The next morning, Ali wakes up with a terrible hangover. Asmodeus returns and, seeing the sorry state of this junior Genie, fires him, making him a mere mortal. Now dressed in rags, Ali talks mournfully to his horse, who surprisingly answers back! Asked why he never revealed this talent to him beofe, the horse shorts, “Ya never asked me, schnook!” Elsewhere, Sultan Jullnar and Shamadin discuss sinister politics while poor Princess Yasmin sulks over her fate in the garden. Soon, poor Ali is pitching hay in the barn.
Seven Years Pass.
Prince Husan and Princess Yasmin have grown into fetching teenagers. A rebellion brews in Baghdad. Our hero, Ali, has managed to work his way up to assistant wizard by sheer effort. After the head wizard is killed for some minor infraction, Ali becomes “The Wizard of Baghdad!” He entertains the Sultan with a sappy patter song. Ali and the Sultan then agree on having the royal wedding to Princess Yasmin in one month’s time.
Elsewhere, Yasmin argues with Shamadin over the impending execution of her friend, Norodeen, also Husan’s father. Norodeen is thrown in prison by warden Kvetch (Stanley Adams). Ali gains entry to the prison to help Norodeen escape; he switches places with the man so that he may go to his son, Husan. Princess Yasmin soon visits Norodeen in prison, but instead finds Ali bound and gagged. A caravan of nomads proceeds, but Norodeen is betrayed by those he thought were helping him, and sent back to the evil Sultan.
Husan reconnects with his father. They reminisce and go over how the kingdom has fallen under the evil spell of sultan Jolar. They decide to liberate Baghdad: "To Jolar and Yasmin; may they honeymoon in Hell!" Husan sneaks into Baghdad, and Yasmin, recognizing him, allows him into the kingdom, forcing him to battle the royal court's strong man. Winning the battle, Jolar unwittingly appoints Husan the new heed of the palace bodyguards.
Yasmin prepares for her wedding as she teases palace guard Husan. Ali Mamud sees Yasmin and Yusan getting acquainted, and becomes worried. Yasmin continues to taunt the poor young Prince, but when Husan finally makes a pass at the Princess, he is summarily rebuffed.
Later, Husan receives orders from a spy as to an impending rebellion, as Ali Mamud listens in, horrified. The Genie decides to plot against Jolar and the arrogant palace guard; he goes about setting up some traps with the aid of phony crystal ball predictions. He tricks Yasmin, Jolar and Trevor to disguise themselves and rendezvous that nigft at the "Turban Street Wine Shop."
Soon, the three leaders arrive at the tavern, as the rebels gather also. Ali Mamud is supposed to signal the rebels, but he of course has passed out from too much wine. The rebel forces engage the leaders anyway, and a battle ensues. Ali Mamud wakes up later, hung over and disgusted with himself, as is his horse, who insults him in no uncertain terms.
The Genie visits the Oracle again, and coaxes her into lending her a flying carpet. Ali Mamud flies directly to his boss, Asmodeus. He questions his superior about the finality of "The Book of Books," and learns do %a whole thing was a phstby the master genie to have Ali Mamud prove himself worthy; Asmodeus nWm Ali Mamud a Enti poe again.
Meanwhile, Prince Husan is jailed, awaiting execution. Ali's Horse kicks the guards out of the way while the Genie makes himself invisible and tricks more guards. Husan and Noradeen are about to be beheaded when Ali Mamud turns the executioner's cutlass into a feather boa just in the nick of time. Father and son escape as the rebels advance, and the liberation of Baghdad is engaged.
Ali Mmud turns Jolar into a parrot, and the throne reverts to its rightful owner, Husan. Yasmin and Husan are reunited and make amends for their former misunderstandings. Ali Mamud gives the couple a golden wedding ring, and the two star-crossed lovers embrace, together forever.
Later, back in heaven, Ali Mamud enjoys a vacation with his favorite pastimes: wine and women. Amodeus appears to reward him and offer him his next assignment, to the genie's chagrin: help King Arthur and his Royal Court, as Merlin the Magician!
THE END
***
THE WIZARD OF BAGHDAD is a flamboyant, colorful and bizarre film, which mixes genres recklessly to create an unwieldy omnibus of a fantasy. It is ostensibly an Arabian Nights adventure film, with cheap but impressive set design and predictable characters. But then there is effeminate leading man Dick Shawn, overplaying his role as Ali Mahmud shamelessly, and threatening to turn the film into a gay satire. The film wavers unevenly between straightforward action-adventure and all-out comedy.
The script is tongue-in-cheek and full of double entendres. It reverts to odd Jewish schtick at the oddest moments, with lines like, "You oughta be a poet!" - "Nah, there's no money in it!", and "Crocodile always gives me indigestion. Why do I eat it, why?"
Add to this some pitiful songs and suggestive sexual content, and you have a film which is neither fish nor fowl, too silly for adults and yet far too ribald for the small ones. Perhaps Fox and producer Sam Katzman were trying to cover too many audience segments in their attempt to make a film for “all members of the family.” The result is an awkward and peculiar film, but not without its charms.
The opening credits sequence, for instance, is jaw-droppingly absurd, with Shawn sitting on a flying carpet on an obvious studio set, singing (or rather mincing) a horrid little dirge called “Enie Meanie Genie”. When junior wizard Ali finally lands on earth, via a carpet held up by shockingly visible wires, things turn weird fast. Ali walks past a sea of floating, disembodied animal heads, and has the first of several arguments with his boss, king of the wizards, Amadeus. Apparently, Ali has a fatal fixation on alcohol and cheap women! (Looking at the flamingly gay Shawn, we don’t believe it for a moment.)
Overall, the exposition is tedious and long-winded, the sets stiff, the songs banal and the battle sequences unengaging. Ultimately, THE WIZARD OF BAGHDAD can only be called a bizarre oddity, a sorry entry by 20th Century Fox into the Kiddie Matinee sweepstakes of the early 1960's, a field they but rarely entered again.
Video/DVD availability: VHS (oop)
U.S. and Turkish posters for THE WIZARD OF BAGHDAD.
Clover Productions/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Screenplay: Jesse Lasky Jr., Samuel Newman, Pat Silver
Music: Irving Gertz
Songs: David Saxon
Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter
Produced by Sam Katzman
Directed by George Sherman
