Review of Kismet (1955) by Jonathan B — 28 May 2014

It is the music that saves this movie from being a complete disaster as the dialogue is lack-lustre and wooden, declaimed without feeling by a cast who should know better. Even though it is a musical, there's no excuse for lines to be delivered with such little feeling.

The setting is lavish and colourful, exactly what you'd expect from a 1950s Hollywood vision of old Baghdad. With tunes based on the music of Borodin's opera "Prince Igor" and other themes there are some big-hitter songs such as "Stranger in Paradise", "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" and "This is My Beloved".

Howard Keel is somewhat charmless in the lead role as quick-thinking poet who's run of good luck and fortune leads those around him to believe he's a wizard with magical powers. His daughter, Ann Blyth unknowingly falls for the local Caliph Vic Damone to provide the necessary, squeaky clean and wholesome love interest while it is Sebastian Cabot as the scheming, underhand Wazir and his vampish wife, played by the all lips and legs Delores Gray, that actually steal this movie.

This is not one of Vincente Minnelli's finest films and it did somewhat bomb at the box office, perhaps because there had already been several versions of this same story (one starring Marlene Dietrich) in the past.

Today it appears gaudy, over-exposed and not terribly politically correct. It doesn't really do the musical genre many favours and is probably one for diehard fans only.