Arabian Nights is a 1942 fantasy adventure film featuring Sabu, Jon Hall and María Montez who would later star together again in Cobra Woman. Arabian Nights is the first of six similar films which paired Jon Hall and Maria Montez. This picture is noted for being the first film Universal used the three-strip Technicolor film process.
In Arabian Nights, Haroun-Al Raschid(Jon Hall, The Hurricane) and his half-brother Kamar (Leif Erickson, Invaders from Mars) battle each other for the power of the throne in Baghdad and the love of a sensual, gorgeous dancing girl, Sherazade (Maria Montez), who is part of a circus act owned by Ahmad (Billy Gilbert, The Music Box). At first Sherazade does admit that she would rather have power than love but as the film progresses, she has a change of heart. In addition to Sherazade, the circus includes Sinbad the Sailor (Shemp Howard of The Three Stooges fame) and Aladdin(John Qualan, The Devil and Daniel Webster). Haroun because he was attacked by Kamar and his followers for which he was outnumbered, forcing him to run and hide. While hiding away from Kamar’s forcesm he is discovered by a free-spirited acrobat Ali Ben Ali (Sabu). Haroun, Ali, and Ahmad join forces to stop Kamar from his reign of terror over Baghdad and also to win the heart of Sherzade.
Arabian Nights is a wonderful fantasy film that has a lot of action throughout. I decided to watch it a couple of times in the past week because it was that entertaining. I was amazed how much I enjoyed this movie; it is a really fun adventure ride from start to finish. The movie has a great cast, in addition to the three leads Hall, Sabu and Montez, the film also has several name actors including Turhan Bey (The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mad Ghoul), Shemp Howard, a “stooge” playing Sinbad of all people, in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. Thomas Gomez (Key Largo, Macao, Who Done it?) and William ‘Wee Willie’ Davis(The Asphalt Jungle, Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion) are also part of the superb veteran cast, and the legendary comedic actor Billy Gilbert.
For those not familiar with Billy Gilbert, he was an actor and comedian who appeared in over 200 movies including several Laurel and Hardy classic short films. Among them are The Music Box, The Chimp, Block-Heads and County Hospital. Other choice films under his resume include Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (the voice of Sneezy), One Hundred Men and A Girl, Destry Rides Again and His Girl Friday.
W. Howard Greene, Milton R. Krasne and William V. Skall were the men responsible for the wonderful cinematography in the film, capturing some gorgeous scenery. Frank Skinner provided the outstanding triumphant soundtrack for this classic which will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Arabian Nights was also nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Score, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Recording and Best Art Direction. Give it a spin and you will see why. The film is really grand entertainment!
Kino Lorber debuts Arabian Nights on Blu-ray. The audio and video quality are just dynamic here. The colors in high definition really shine, ranging from lush outdoor shots of blue skies to the ground below, which happens to be sand. Yes, even the sand which there is plenty of, looks magnificent in high definition with deep textures. The colorful costumes the actors wear also look robust and bold, with deep reds, pinks and blues. Skin tones look accurate without anything looking waxy or artificially doctored up.
The often used English DTS-HD master audio 2.0 is flawless. The lossless audio enhances every sound in the film. The dialog comes in strong and clear. The thrilling soundtrack also is flawless without any hissing or drop offs
Extras for this release, following a similar pattern of other recent Kino Lorber releases, is a commentary, this one by film historian Phillipa Berry. Another great information commentary to listen to! Theatrical trailers for Arabian Nights, Ali Baba and the Forty Nights Cobra Woman and Son of Ali Baba round out the extras.
Arabian Nights is every bit as entertaining as The Thief of Bagdad (also with Sabu) and is great escapism which we all sorely need right now! Highly recommended !
Arabian Nights
Director- John Rawlins
Cast- Sabu, Jon Hall, María Montez
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 8/2/20