Wordiezett So much average

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Wizard-8 Credit has to go to the makers of this movie to step away from tradition and not make this retelling of the classic Aladdin story not totally serious, years before the Disney animated movie decided to more or less do the same. The tongue in cheek attitude does achieve some good results, the biggest and best being the casting of Phil Silvers as Aladdin's sidekick. He's a lot of fun, acting pretty goofy in most of his screen time. In fact, I kind of wished that Silvers had played the lead role rather than Cornel Wilde. I'm not saying that Wilde was a bad actor - he did show his talents in other movies - but in this particular adventure, he's made to come across as a kind of bland and generic Arabian Knights kind of hero. There's not much memorable about his character. Another problem with the movie is that there is not much in the way of action or special effects, something you've probably come to expect from movies of this kind. I'll admit the movie is never boring, it looks colorful and expensive, and with the humor the movie does manage to be kind of fun. But at the same time, you'll see hints of a movie whose full potential was not quite realized.

morrison-dylan-fan Since having recently seen Vincent Price's fun Fantasy Adventure flick Bagdad,I've been in the mood of seeing a similar film.Taking a look at a fellow IMDbers posts,I noticed them praise an Adventure Fantasy title starring Phil Silvers,which led to me getting ready to stay up for 1000 and 1 nights.The plot:Running away with Abdullah after his friend has been caught pick pocketing, Aladdin decides to enter a passing litter that Princess Armina is being taken around the city in.After hearing about Armina's mythical beauty for years,Aladdin finds Armina to be more beautiful than he has ever imagined.Ignoring Abdullah advice,Aladdin decides after successfully escaping,that he will visit Armina later that night in her castle.Getting captured, Aladdin and Abdullah are set to be killed,until Armina uses her charismatic skills to steal the jail key and free Aladdin & Abdullah.Hiding in a cave,the pals run into a sorcerer called Kofir,who gets Aladdin and Abdullah to go deep into the cave,in order to retrieve a lamp.Whilst wondering about why Kofi wants an old,rusting lamp,Aladdin rubs the object,which leads to a gene called Babs coming out of the lamp.Being told that every wish of his will be granted,Aladdin sets his sights on meeting Armina once again.View on the film:Whilst his role in the film is surprisingly not that prominent, Phil Silvers gives a wonderful performance as Abdullah,thanks to Silvers pushing the Fantasy elements aside to scatter Screwball Comedy moments across the screen,and also cleverly using Abdullah's pick pocketing skills for some quick-witted slap-stick Comedy set pieces. Supplying the movie with some likable songs, Cornel Wilde gives a very good performance as Aladdin,with Wilde balancing Aladdin's heart on his sleeve smile,with a charismatic swagger over seeing Princess Armina (played by a cute Adele Jergens) once again.Showing the guys that she can't be pushed around,the elegant Evelyn Keyes gives a great performance as Babs the genie,as Keyes rips apart Aladdin's dizzy love with hilariously sharp one-liners.Covering the title in rich silk,director Alfred E. Green and cinematographer Ray Rennahan glide the film along a warm mystical atmosphere,by crossing the traditional Fantasy elements of genies and princesses with a modern Comedy take.Green joyfully takes the title from swooning song homages to the genie in distress outwitting all of the men.For their take on an Arabian Nights tale,the screenplay by Wilfred H. Petitt/Richard English and Jack Henley attempts to cross Screwball Comedy over with Fantasy Adventure.For the magical Screwball Comedy moments the writers keep the film speeding along via clever 4th wall breaking gags that go from a desperation for the gun to be invented,to a proto-"TV" stone,which are all kept rooted by the sweet-natured friendship between Aladdin & Abdullah.Although the writers display a clear amount of energy in the comedic moments,the title is sadly never able to give the Fantasy Adventure sections the same sense of excitement,due to Aladdin & Princess Armina's dry relationship not being allowed to progress into a blossoming fairy tale.

mark.waltz As if the Maria Montez/Jon Hall/Sabu color fests dealing with similar tales over at Universal weren't camp enough, Columbia gives us this "Hellzapoppin'" type spoof,a jive-talking', slang filled satire that is only missing Robert Hays responding, "Shirley, You Can't Be Serious!". From the moment the bespeckled Phil Silvers comes on screen (glasses weren't invented until 500 years after this takes place!), you know you are in for a wacky ride. His references to Lana Turner and television simply confirm that. Cornel Wilde is Aladdin, the handsome beefy hero who loves the Sultan's daughter (Adele Jergens) after invading her caravan and has won her love as well. But evil is afoot, and after dealing with giant Rex Ingram (repeating his role from "The Thief of Bagdad"), Wilde and Silvers find the lamp an evil sorcerer has sent them looking for, and find it contains the beautiful but wise-cracking Evelyn Keyes. As far removed from "Gone With the Wind's" Tara (where Keyes played Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister) as she could get, Keyes falls in love with Wilde and schemes in her teasing way to prevent him from winning the princess. The story cleverly utilizes aspects of the Arabian Knights tales ("New lamps for old", in particularly) with genuine satire, and is as colorful as the Rita Hayworth musicals that Columbia was turning out. In certain shots, Jergens seems to be photographed and made up exactly as Hayworth was in "Cover Girl".Columbia took a break from its string of Robin Hood adventure yarns for this sword & sandal fest, and came up with a winner. Wilde is a charming hero, Jergens a sweet but spunky princess, and Keyes going down Eve Arden territory with a touch of teenie bopper crush thrown in. Silvers provides some humor that may be considered dated, but some of his gags are timeless. There are enough villains to give Disney's "Aladdin's" Jafar a run for his money, although on closer examination, the plot of the movie resembles "The Lion King". The ending provides one of the funniest gags on screen imaginable.

preppy-3 Aladdin (Cornel Wilde) falls in love with Princess Armina (Adele Jergens). She loves him too but she can't marry a poor man. Aladdin finds a lantern, rubs it and our comes a female genie named Babs (Evelyn Keyes). Aladdin orders her to make him a rich prince so he will be able to marry the princess--but Babs starts to fall in love with Aladdin! Abdullah (Phil Silvers), Aladdin's buddy tags along.If you take the Arabian Nights stories seriously this will probably have you horrified. However if you take it for what it is (a fun, silly movie) you'll love it. It was shot in bright Technicolor with huge sets, a large cast and excellent special effects. It's obvious that Paramount spent a LOT of money on this. The script moves quickly and one-liners (mostly by Silvers) go flying left and right. Some of the lines are groaners but (more often than not) they're right on target.Acting--Wilde is tall, hunky and incredibly handsome. He even sings a few songs (!!!). Silvers could have very easily been annoying--but he's actually quite funny and full of life. Jergens and Keyes are both beautiful and good in their roles. Also Rex Ingram has a pointless (but interesting) cameo as another genie and Shelly Winters plays a harem girl! Cute, colorful, lavish and lots of fun. Worth catching. Perfect for the whole family.