Arabian Nights (1942)

Dancer Sherazade was told by the stars that she will become wife of the kalif in Bagdad. She tells Kamar…

• Director: John Rawlins
• Genre:Action / Adventure
• Runtime:86 minutes

Cast

Sabu : Ali Ben Ali
Jon Hall : Haroun-Al-Raschid
Maria Montez : Scheherazade
Leif Erickson : Kamar (as Leif Erikson)
Billy Gilbert : Ahmad

The story starts at a harem (which strangely has the Taj Mahal in sight, even though it is supposed to be located in Persia), where the eldery overseer bids his young charges to read the story of Haroun al-Rashid (Hall) and his wife Sheherazade (Montez), unfolding the film’s plot in the process.

Sheherazade, a dancer in a wandering circus owned by Ahmad (Billy Gilbert) – whose troupe also includes Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin, who have seemingly fallen on hard times -, had captured the attention of Kamar (Erickson), the brother of caliph Haroun al-Rashid. In his infatuation with her, and because of a prophecy which names her as the future queen, Kamar had attempted to seize the throne, but was captured and sentenced to slow death by exposure. As Haroun visits his brother, for whom he feels pity, Kamar’s men storm the palace and free their leader; outnumbered, Haroun is forced to flee. He manages to get near the plaza where Sheherazade’s circus is performing and is spotted by the young acrobat Ali Ben Ali (Sabu), who finds out his identity and decides to hide him in the cirus, confiding only in Sheherazade (though he does not tell her about the fugitive’s true identity). Upon awakening from the wounds he had received in his flight, Haroun beholds Sheherazade and instantly falls in love with her.

Meanwhile, Kamar, thinking that Haroun is dead, assumes the throne of Bagdad, but to his chagrin Sheherazade is not to be found, and he orders the captain of his guard (Turhan Bey) to find her. But then the scheming Grand Vizier Nadan (Edgar Barrier) approaches the captain with the order to make Sheherazade ‘disappear’, and upon finding them he decides to sell her and her friends into slavery. But due to a witness the captain is exposed, and in order to preserve his plans, Nadan first gets him to confess and then murders him.

Haroun, Sheherazade, and the acrobats manage to escape the slave pens and flee to the border, where they are found by Kamar’s army and taken to a tent city in the desert. Kamar proposes to Sheherazade, but she has in the meantime fallen in love with Haroun. Also, Nadar recognizes the caliph and his affection for Sheherazade, and he uses this knowledge to blackmail Sheherazade into helping him in his scheme: in exchange for Haroun’s freedom, she is to poison Kamar during the wedding ceremony, upon which Nadar would assume rulership for himself. In secret, however, he plans to have Haroun killed once he has crossed the border. Read more