A Thousand and One Nights | |
---|---|
Directed by | Alfred E. Green |
Screenplay by | Wilfred H. Petitt (as Wilfrid H. Pettitt) Richard English Jack Henley |
Story by | Wilfred H. Petitt (as Wilfrid H. Pettitt) (original story) |
Produced by | Samuel Bischoff |
Starring | Evelyn Keyes Phil Silvers Adele Jergens Cornel Wilde |
Cinematography | Ray Rennahan |
Edited by | Gene Havlick |
Music by | Marlin Skiles |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Columbia Pictures |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
A Thousand and One Nights is a 1945 tongue-in-cheek American adventure fantasy film set in the Baghdad of the One Thousand and One Nights , directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Evelyn Keyes, Phil Silvers, Adele Jergens and Cornel Wilde. [1]
It was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Art Direction, Color (Stephen Goosson, Rudolph Sternad, Frank Tuttle) and Best Special Effects (Ray Bomba and Lawrence W. Butler). [2]
Vagabond singer Aladdin (Cornel Wilde) has his hands full keeping his pickpocket friend, Abdullah (Phil Silvers), out of trouble. Abdullah is thought mad as he claims to have been born 1200 years too early, speaks in 1940s slang and knows about television.
When the beautiful Princess Armina (Adele Jergens), the daughter of the Sultan (Dennis Hoey), is borne through the streets in a covered litter, however, it is Aladdin who gets into difficulty. Despite knowing the punishment is death for a commoner to see the princess's face, Aladdin cannot resist. He distracts the guards and slips into the litter. He persuades Armina to let her veil be lifted and is delighted to discover the stories of her beauty are true. He falls in love instantly. She is not so enamored of him, but does not raise an outcry when he slips away.
Later, Aladdin returns to the palace to woo Armina. He is caught and thrown in a cell (where he finds Abdullah) to await execution the next day. A distraught Armina has her trusted servant Novira (Dusty Anderson) steal the key to the cell from the jailer and slip it to Aladdin. Aladdin and Abdullah flee the city, pursued by the Sultan's guards. They hide out in a cave, where Kofir the sorcerer (Richard Hale) is waiting for them. Kofir persuades Aladdin to enter the bowels of the cave to fetch a magic lamp. Aladdin and the uneasy Abdullah dodge a laughing giant (Rex Ingram, dressed and coiffed the same as the genie he portrayed in the 1940 film The Thief of Bagdad ) and return with the lamp, only to find that Kofir has blocked the entrance with a giant boulder. Kofir demands the lamp before he will let them out, but Aladdin does not trust him. The sorcerer leaves them to die of thirst and starvation.
When a frustrated Aladdin throws the lamp away, a redheaded female genie (Evelyn Keyes) appears and instructs him to rub the lamp, which makes him her master. She explains that only her master can see or hear her. She insists he call her Babs, and like Abdullah, behaves and talks like she is from the twentieth century. He orders her to get them out of the cave. He then decides to go back for the princess, much to the genie's disappointment (as she has fallen in love with him), and has her conjure up a retinue of servants, clothes and rich gifts.
Meanwhile, the Sultan's twin brother, Prince Hadji (also played by Dennis Hoey, with a British accent in both roles), who has already tried to overthrow his brother once before, makes the Sultan his captive and takes his place undetected. Hadji is aided by the treacherous Grand Wazir Abu-Hassan (Philip Van Zandt), who is promised Armina's hand in marriage as a reward.
When Aladdin shows up pretending to be a prince of Hindustan, however, the Sultan changes his mind, preferring a rich son-in-law. The genie, however, does her best to derail the romance. Spotting Kofir, who has watched the proceedings through his magic crystal and is pretending to be a merchant offering new lamps for old, the genie arranges for the unsuspecting Novira to exchange the magic lamp. Once Kofir becomes the genie's master, everything that Aladdin wished for disappears, including the gift robe the false Sultan is wearing for the wedding. Armina realizes the man is not her father, but Prince Hadji, as he does not have a scar on his arm. Aladdin and Abdullah are taken away to be hanged, but Abu-Hassan offers to spare their lives if Armina agrees to marry him.
Aladdin is set free, believing Armina was only toying with him. Later, however, Novira tells him the truth. He and Abdullah track Kofir down and discover that he was overcome with excitement and died of a stroke. They steal the lamp from its next owner, a tailor, and return to the palace. At the end of a sword fight (in which Wilde gets to display his fencing skills), Hadji dies, and the grateful Sultan agrees to Aladdin and Armina's marriage.
Aladdin frees the heartbroken genie. She has an idea. She conjures up Aladdin's twin, who is in love with her. To reward Abdullah, she gives him Frank Sinatra's voice to entrance the harem girls.
Uncredited Cast
Dennis Schwartz described the film as "an attractive looking but buffoonish satire on the Arabian Nights" and stated "the laughs are hard to come by and are more unintentional than intentional." [3]
Aladdin is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, despite not being part of the original text; it was added by the Frenchman Antoine Galland, based on a folk tale that he heard from the Syrian Maronite storyteller Hanna Diyab.
Jafar is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Walt Disney Pictures' 31st animated feature film Aladdin (1992). He is voiced by Jonathan Freeman, who also portrayed the character in the Broadway musical adaptation. Jafar also appears in the 1994 sequel to Aladdin, but he is not in the 1996 third film or the TV series.
Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights is a 1994 made-for-television film produced by Hanna-Barbera, and aired on syndication on September 3, 1994. It is an adaptation of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights and features appearances by Scooby-Doo and Shaggy Rogers, in wrap around segments.
Adele Jergens was an American actress.
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Iago is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 31st animated feature film Aladdin (1992), the direct-to-video sequels The Return of Jafar (1994), Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), and the television series. An anthropomorphic red-plumed talking parrot, he was voiced by American comedian Gilbert Gottfried in all animated appearances up to his death in 2022. He was subsequently voiced by Alan Tudyk in the live-action adaptation of Aladdin, by Barrett Leddy in the 2023 Disney+ special Lego Disney Princess: The Castle Quest and Piotr Michael in the 2023 crossover short Once Upon a Studio.
Aladdin is a 1992 animated fantasy film. It is based on the classic Arabian Nights story Aladdin, translated by Antoine Galland. Aladdin was produced by Golden Films and the American Film Investment Corporation. Like all other Golden Films productions, the film featured a single song, "Rub the Lamp", written and composed by Richard Hurwitz and John Arrias. It was released directly to video on April 27, 1992 by GoodTimes Home Video and was reissued on DVD in 2002 as part of the distributor's "Collectible Classics" line of products.
Aladdin Jr. is a one-act, eleven-scene theatre musical adapted from the 1992 Walt Disney Animation Studios film Aladdin which is an adaptation of the folk tale Aladdin. The production runs between 60 and 80 minutes and includes five female parts, six male parts, and a chorus.
Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp, also known by its Telugu-language title Allauddin Adhbhuta Deepam, its Tamil-language title Allavudeenum Arputha Vilakkum, and its Hindi-language title Alladdin Ka Chirag, is a 1957 Indian fantasy film produced by M. L. Pathy on Jai Sakthi Pictures banner and directed by T. R. Raghunath. The film stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Anjali Devi. It is an adaptation of the story of Aladdin from One Thousand and One Nights and a trilingual, filmed simultaneously in three different languages. Allavudeenum Arputha Vilakkum was released on 29 March 1957, and Allavuddin Adbhuta Deepam followed on 13 April. Alladin Ka Chirag too, came in the same year.
Aladdin is a stage musical based on Disney's 1992 animated feature film of the same name with a book by Chad Beguelin, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Beguelin. It resurrects three songs written by Menken and Ashman for the film but not used, and adds four songs written by Menken and Beguelin.
Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier is a musical with music by A. J. Holmes, lyrics by Kaley McMahon, and a book by Matt Lang, Nick Lang, and Eric Kahn Gale. It was produced by StarKid Productions.
1001 Arabian Nights is a 1959 American animated comedy film produced by United Productions of America (UPA) and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Released to theaters on December 1, 1959, the film is a loose adaptation of the Arab folktale of "Aladdin" from One Thousand and One Nights, albeit with the addition of UPA's star cartoon character, Mr. Magoo, to the story as Aladdin's uncle, "Abdul Azziz Magoo". It is the first animated feature to be released by Columbia Pictures.
Aladdin And The Wonderful Lamp is a 1952 Indian fantasy film produced and directed by Homi Wadia.
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp is a 1982 Japanese anime fantasy film produced by Toei Animation, based on the Middle Eastern folk tale of Aladdin. The film was released in Japan on 13 March 1982 by Toei Company.
The Genie is a fictional jinn appearing in Walt Disney Pictures' 31st animated feature film Aladdin (1992). He was voiced by Robin Williams in the first film. Following a contract dispute between Williams and Disney, Dan Castellaneta voiced the Genie throughout the direct-to-video feature The Return of Jafar, as well as the television series, before Williams reprised the role for the final installment, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, as well as for the character's own mini-series, Great Minds Think for Themselves.
Aladdin's Magic Lamp is a 1967 Soviet fantasy film directed by Boris Rytsarev based on the tale Aladdin from One Thousand and One Nights.
Aladdin – Naam Toh Suna Hoga is an Indian fantasy television series based on the Arabian Nights character Aladdin. The series premiered on 21 August 2018 on Sony SAB. The series involves Aladdin, a kind-hearted thief, as he falls in love with Princess Yasmine, befriends a wish-granting Genie of the Lamp, and battles Zafar and later the evil enchantress Mallika, and again with Sultan Aiyyar Zafar after his rebirth.
Aladdin and His Wonder Lamp, is a 1906 French silent short film directed by Albert Capellani, inspired by the folk tale, "The Story of Aladdin; or, the Wonderful Lamp", first known in Europe through its 18th century populariser, Antoine Galland, who added the tale to his translation of One Thousand and One Nights. His version, the first appearance of Arabian Nights in Europe, was published as Les mille et une nuits, between 1704 and 1717. Galland had heard the "Aladdin" story from the Maronite traveller and storyteller Hanna Diyab, in Paris, probably in the French language. The film is the oldest surviving cinematographic adaptation of this tale.
A traditional Arabian Nights romance, some modern spoofing comedy, and a bit of trick photography have been put together in a lavish Technicolor production to make "A Thousand and One Nights," the new feature at the State and Orpheum.