Pretty Good

Memorable, crazy movie

Just what I expected

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Siren Of Bagdad is a rather broad satire from Columbia of all those Arabian Knights Maria Montez films from Universal. Even after Maria died young those sets got a good dozen years use over at Universal International for such people as Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, and Jeff Chandler.Playing the title role is Patricia Medina the beautiful daughter of the deposed sultan. Against her charms the witty and sophisticated Paul Henreid, magician and head of a traveling entertainment troupe doesn't have a chance. His troupe of dancing girls plus his assistant Hans Conreid get involved in the politics of Bagdad as they help Medina kick out the usurper. That magician's magic box meant to entertain never saw quite the service it saw in this film. Came in quite handy.Also coming in handy are those dancing girls. As usurper Charles Lang is seeking to replenish his harem the girls provide a wonderful entrée into intrigue.This is a decent enough satire, don't try to take it seriously, just relax and enjoy.

I stumbled across this movie on TMC by accident, and I'm glad I did. Filmed in a time when movies steered towards the dramatic, seeing Paul Henreid in this role was refreshing, and probably something he wanted to do to spice up his versatility as an actor. As soon as I saw Hans Conreid as his sidekick Ben Ali I knew this movie would be great fun, and I stayed for the duration. Very campy but this is the kind of movie to enjoy and not take seriously (despite my jealousy over those beautiful dancing girls). Of all the sand and sandal movies I have seen, this one is definitely my favorite. I highly recommend it to all, but right now I have to catch my crosstown camel!

While many have panned this film, the dancing and theatrics were excellent entertainment. Costuming and sets were well done and while the plot lacked a lot of depth, the mirth and special effects were interesting and ahead of other offerings from the mid 1950's.Casting was done with relative unknowns that worked diligently at coming across as middle eastern while obviously actually being from Mexico or South America...(distinct Spanish dialect in the accents).Dancing and magic was fun and believable. Sit back and enjoy, but don't expect any surprises...

Siren of Bagdad is quite a strange Paul Heinreid film for me. I'm familiar with him from Casablanca (who isn't?) and things like Watch on the Rhine, where he is deadly serious and somewhat ponderous. In Siren, produced by Sam Katzman, who threw together cheap B movies for many years (think East Side Kids), Heinreid is virtually winking at the camera as magician Kazah the Great, trying to rescue his dancing girls after they are kidnapped by... well, no one really cares who, exactly.No one seems to take the plot seriously at all, but do have fun camping in a sandy oasis (I'm sure the beach was just behind the dune), doing vaudeville-type magic tricks, and jumping on barely hidden trampolines when they fight ruffians, then chasing through a lot of sets with gold and primary colors while wearing yards of colorful fabric. There is very much the atmosphere of a Three Stooges short of the late 40s going on here. Hans Conreid plays magician Henireid's manservant Ben Ali who mugs his way through the film. I'm not sure if it's just the print that TCM showed, but the color and print quality are kind of poor for a Columbia film. The grain is noticeably different on the Columbia logo than on the print, and the day-for-night photography is pretty poor, mostly just a blue gel and under exposure for the effect. Interior shots are strangely lit, and very flat considering the scope of the (cheap) sets; I suspect that this is because they were playing things so broad, no one really knew where the actors would actually be during a shot. Kinda fun and very fast moving, which helps cover the silliness of the film.