Instant Favorite.

A Disappointing Continuation

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

With a poll coming up on IMDbs Classic Film board coming up for the best titles of 1949,I started searching round for movies to view for the poll.Since having heard him get mention a number of times after the recent death of Christopher Lee,I was pleased to spot that a DVD seller had recently tracked down an Adventure film starring Vincent Price,which led to me getting ready to take a trip to Bagdad.The plot:Returning to Bagdad after getting educated in England, Princess Marjan discovers that her dad has been brutally killed,after a rebel tribe called The Black Robes left him in battle. Comforted by Pasha Ali Nadim,Marjan is told by Nadim that she can stay as a guest at his palace,as she tries to track down the leader of The Black Robes.As she starts looking round for the Robes leader,Marjan is shocked to find out that Nadim is the head of Bagdad's corrupt government,with Nadim having recently met the leader of The Black Robes for secret deals.Suspecting that Nadim is keeping things hidden from her,Marjan beings to take a look at the lines in the sand.View on the film:For the screenplay of the film,writers Tamara Hovey & Robert Hardy Andrews place Bagdad into separate tribes,who despite wearing different costumes are never clearly defined,which leads to all of the tribes being rather jumbled up.Whilst they fail to draw clear lines in the sand for the tribes,the writers make sure the movie speeds by with delightfully bonkers elements,which go from Marjan offering an Arabian take on "girl power",to The Black Robes darting across the screen like mystic ninjas.Filmed on the studio back lot,director Charles Lamont & cinematographer Russell Metty use sweeping crane shots to fully display the vibrancy of the various tribes.Along with the smoothly- handled sweeps,Lamont cooks up a charming mythical atmosphere,thanks to Lamont splashing dazzling red,green and blues across the characters palaces and costumes,which act as the perfect contrast to the dry,sandy desert.Twirling his beard in the opening scene (talk about subtle!) Vincent Price gives a wickedly sharp performance as boo-hiss baddie,as Price sends the movie in a completely off-road direction,by having Nadim slap anyone who offers the slightest disagreement with him,and for some unexplained reason,keeping his right eye shut for the entire movie.Delivering 3 sweet,if rather forgettable songs on the soundtrack,the very pretty Maureen O'Hara gives a terrific performance as Marjan,with O'Hara giving Marjan a feisty edge,which superbly bounces off the cartoon baddie action from Price,which makes this a magical visit to Bagdad.

Charles Lamont's 'Bagdad' set the tone for Maureen's 1950s film career...In past adventure movies, she had been merely the irritable and decorative female lead... Now she moved into the full limelight, demanding the screen title once held by Maria Montez, and more recently by Yvonne DeCarlo, as Queen of the period adventure tales...More than Montez and DeCarlo, Maureen is a spirited and robust actress who can stand up to any hero. She combines her surprising screen beauty with an athletic finesse that allow her to move smoothly from a star with dramatic ambition to a Queen of the B-adventure movies...'Bagdad' encloses all the fundamental escapist entertainments that flourishes Maureen's appeal: Technicolor lensing, a handsome, co-star not so dynamic, and a weak script which permits Maureen complete freedom to win her noble screen causes with her own feminine persuasion and many vigorous swashbuckling... With dishonest dealings among the sheiks of Bagdad, princess Maureen, who assumes the disguise of a café entertainer and who sings three songs, learns to her relief that Paul Christian is not the leader of the cowardly Black Riders, a desert gang in partnership with the corrupt Pasha Vincent Price...

A memorable film from several points. The color was terrific; the songs that Maureen O'Hara trilled had style; the costumes were overdone; the acting and dialogue, with all those "thee's" and "thou's" were unbelievable. Maureen must have been in Elizabethan England before returning to Bagdad. I really think the whole crew, including writers, must have had a hilarious time making this screwy movie. It is so bad, it is good.

The costumes, locations, and action make up for the thin plot in this story of a princess in search of her father's murderer. True, there are holes in the story, Maureen O'Hara as a red-haired Turkish princess takes a stretch of imagination, but the look of the film is wonderful. Vincent Price, as always, makes a menacing villian. One wishes there was more romance, however. A good time, nonetheless.