Saadia is a wild, strange Arab girl whose life has been dominated by a local sorceress, a vengeful outcast in the community, who has convinced her she has the "evil eye" and brings disaster to all who love her. French doctor Henrik takes her to his clinic, for rehabilitation purposes, and falls in love with her as does his friend, Si Lahssen, the reigning prince of this small Moroccan state. When a plague falls on the town, Saadia is convinced she is responsible, and rides alone into the mountain country to retrieve the plague serum being held for ransom by bandits. The love triangle dominates most of the rest of the film.
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The most interesting thing about this film Saadia is the fact that it was shot on location in Morocco where the story takes place. I guess a nice trip to Morocco was a nice dividend for the American and European players in this exotic but rather pedestrian drama.Playing the title role is Rita Gam and she's a wild child Moroccan girl trained in the black arts by Wanda Rotha. Because of that she's scorned in polite society. But she's got two guys panting hot and heavy for her. They would be the local sheik Cornel Wilde and a French doctor now stationed in Wilde's corner of Morocco, Mel Ferrer.There's a breakout of plague where Wilde gets sick and Gam goes the extra mile to get the serum and other medical supplies captured by another local sheik Michel Simon. Presiding over it all is Cyril Cusack who plays a local imam. Gam never looked sexier on screen, but she and the others all were in better films. Fans of the leads will find Saadia acceptable.
Thank you TCM for airing this 1953 offbeat adventure drama, no doubt filmed to showcase the exotic beauty of talented Rita Gam. Her portrayal of the outcast Moroccan girl, Saadia, is worthy of one of today's "action heroines" - she rides bareback, she brawls, she is brave, tough, resourceful, and beautiful. Part of the problem with the movie's reputation may be the early 1950s novel on which the film is based, "Checkmate to Destiny: The Story of Saadia" by French writer Francis D'Autheville - it's a multi-layered work that combines adventure, colonialism, and culture clashes in post WWII French-governed Morroco (think Lawrence Durrell meets Khaled Hosseini) and was way ahead of its time. Though the dialog is somewhat stilted, it is remarkable how respectful it is, for the 1950s, towards Arab culture, avoiding most of the obvious stereotypes. Lushly filmed in color by MGM, on location, with excellent stunt work, this film absorbed me immediately. Worth seeing!
It is hard to believe that this movie was released in 1953. It feels more like 1933, except that it was filmed in color. The story fits 1933 better than 1953--in fact, if it had been released in 1933 but set 50 years earlier, it would be a perfect fit.Somehow, a story involving witchcraft in 1953 just doesn't fly.Saadia is supposed to be mysterious. Mostly she seems tongue-tied. She seems more capable of heroics than the menfolk in the movie, however.There must have been a solid budget behind this movie, and it shows, but the story is so peculiar that the production values don't help.Watch it as a curiosity.
Rita Gam was an exotic looking beauty who shot from a bit part in her first movie (as "The Girl") to the female lead in this, her second film. How does one rise so rapidly through the Hollywood ranks? Perhaps being married to director Sidney Lumet had something to do with it? "Saadia" is fairly wooden at parts, but it's not Rita's fault. She gives a spirited performance as the object of two men's love. The only other life in this movie is provided by Wanda Rotha, as a voodoo wielding rival to Rita. Cornel Wilde & Mel Ferrer, who are friends in the film & act as if they're afraid to hurt each other's feelings, have hurt the audiences feelings by being almost too dull to watch. I rate it 5/10.