Looking to feature authentic Egyptians in his exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair, Cyrus Graydon visit Cairo, where he is joined by a pasha and by an American con artist named Wayne Cravat. The pasha falls in love with the exotic dancer Izora. Although Graydon tries to discourage her, she travels to Chicago, where she identifies herself as a genuine Egyptian princess.
Cravat pretends to be romantically interested in Graydon's daughter Sylvia in order to curry favor with her father. Izora is jealous and retaliates by trying to seduce Sylvia's fiancé Oliver Doane.
When she dances a scandalous "hootchy-kootchy" dance in public, the police place Izora under arrest. She insists in court that, as a princess, she is entitled to dance any way that she pleases. However, the prosecution has discovered that Izora is actually Betty Randolph of Jersey City, New Jersey.
The pasha appears just in time to attest that she is his cousin, and therefore a true princess. However, others discover that the pasha himself is a fake.
The film was announced in October 1950[4] and filming began in late November.[5]
Director Frederick de Cordova later said: "At least the picture got me back in the musical area where I had worked in New York. Mark Stevens was an attractive, competent actor and Rhonda Fleming was a very pretty girl. We tested a lot of women for that part. Whoever played it had to be voluptuous and able to move sexily. The picture was kind of a pot boiler but we got paid for it. The results weren't terrible although I don't think I heightened Fleming's career or that the picture heightened mine."[6]
Release
The film's world premiere was held at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago on August 3, 1951, with stars Mark Stevens and Rhonda Fleming in attendance.[1] Chicago television station WBKB aired a live telecast from the theater.[7]
Reception
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Oscar Godbout called the film "no great shakes as a dramatic endeavor despite plenty of appealing color" and wrote: "Everything concerned, this is a pretty standard effort, for in it, real entertainment is as sparse as geysers in the Sahara, and only occasionally will patrons be roused from their indifference. Miss Fleming is graceful enough, but the suspicion remains that the original edition of Little Egypt, back in 1893, must have been more exciting than her 1951 counterpart."[2]
Critic Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "If anything 'Little Egypt' has too many complications for comfort and none of them is particularly vital. The humor that might augment the zest of the proceedings is lacking too much of the time. The picture, therefore, strains to get results which, while colorful in their way, fall short of genuine interest. Laughs punctuate the action and are good when not forced."[8]
References
12"Little Egypt (Advertisement)". Chicago Tribune. 1951-08-03. p.14, Part 2.
12Godbout, Oscar (1951-08-30). "The Screen: Three Newcomers on Local Scene". The New York Times. p.20.
↑'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
↑Brady, Thomas F. (1950-10-28). "Dorothy Lamour in De Mille Film". The New York Times. p.10.
↑Brady, Thomas F. (1950-11-24). "Warners Shelves Remake of Drama". The New York Times. p.31.
↑Davis, Ronald L. (2005). Just making movies. University Press of Mississippi. pp.133–134.
↑"Television Programs for Today". Chicago Tribune. 1951-08-03. p.8.
↑Schallert, Edwin (1951-09-13). "'Little Egypt' Shows How Cooch Dance Won at Fair". Los Angeles Times. p.10, Part II.
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