A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS (1945) is a Technicolor "Arabian Nights" romp with its tongue planted firmly in cheek. The lightweight script contemporizes the tale of sultans, sorcerers, magic lamps, and romance in Old Araby. The film is pretty weak, but it seems like the kind of movie that would be fun for kids and young folk. (Or at least young folk in 1945.) The colors are vibrant, there are some "magical" special effects, a few songs, and a sense of exotic adventure. Plus more than a few winks at the modern audience.Phil Silvers is a walking anachronism, complete with 1940s slang and a variation on his signature specs. He plays the comedic sidekick to Cornel Wilde's Aladdin and is a vehicle for pop culture references. His shtick is nigh insufferable here. Wilde plays a rather bland hero, a handsome vagabond who makes women swoon with his singing in the marketplace.The best thing about this film is Evelyn Keyes. I know her from 1950s noirs like THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (1950) and THE PROWLER (1951). Here she is adorable as the redheaded genie who grants wishes for Aladdin. She shows up about twenty minutes into the movie and makes the whole thing worthwhile. She looks great in Technicolor and steals every scene she's in. As the genie can only be seen by the person who possesses the magic lamp, she's always skipping around, up to some playful mischief while "invisible". It's fun watching her, even when she's not the focus of the scene.Keyes's genie falls in love with Wilde's Aladdin when he first rubs the lamp, and she's rather put out that he only has eyes for the daughter of the sultan. Still, she has no choice but to help Aladdin get the girl. The princess is played by Adele Jergens, a blonde Virginia Mayo type. She's beautiful, but personally I would've run off with Evelyn Keyes.The cast also includes the lovely Dusty Anderson as the princess's handmaiden, Dennis Hoey as the sultan (and his evil twin), Philip Van Zandt as his scheming vizier, Richard Hale as a random cave-dwelling sorcerer, John Abbott as a poor tailor with a thing for redheads, and Rex Ingram seemingly recreating his diaper-wearing giant role from THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940).As with other Arabian Nights films, like the 1924 and 1940 versions of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, it's interesting to note the similarities to Walt Disney's ALADDIN (1992). In this film particularly you have a vagabond named Aladdin (with a pickpocket sidekick) who falls in love with the sultan's daughter. The evil vizier conspires against the sultan and wants to marry the princess. Aladdin uses a genie's magic to pass as a prince and enter the palace to woo the princess. There's even the scene with the old sorcerer in the cave ("Let us out!" "First give me the lamp!"). I don't know if the folks at Disney screened all these old movies for inspiration or if the plot points are just common to the traditional Arabian Nights tales.A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS is not a great movie, but it's a fun spin on Arabian Nights adventures. The film certainly doesn't take itself too seriously. There's little substance for the serious film buffs, but it's a colorful curiosity and an interesting product of its time. The closing bobbysoxer gag is great.

"A Thousand and One Nights" (1945) is a fun, campy version of Arabian Nights. It is a visually stunning Technicolor film, with lavish costumes and sets, witty dialog, a red-haired female genie, a cute dog, a sinister giant, a sword fight, songs and exotic Arabian dancers.Aladdin (played by Cornel Wilde) is dashing and athletic. He falls in love with blonde Princess Armina, daughter of the Sultan. Beautiful brunette Novira is one of Armina's many lovely handmaidens. Comedian Phil Silvers is great as Aladdin's friend Abdullah, who makes a lot of witty, 1940s slang wisecracks. (It is said that Abdullah was born 1,200 years before his time, hence his knowledge of 1940s culture.) Aladdin finds a red-haired female genie named Babs to help him marry Princess Armina. However, things get complicated when the genie falls in love with Aladdin, and the Grand Wazir wants to marry the princess.Aladdin and Abdullah have some interesting adventures. The two friends are chased on horseback at the Vasquez Rocks. In the spooky cave of a sorcerer, they are stalked by a giant (Rex Ingram). They also meet a tailor with six beautiful red-haired seamstresses.Aladdin's sword fight is excellent. Cornel Wilde was on the U.S. Olympic fencing team in 1936, and the sword fight is very dramatic.The costumes are over-the-top spectacular. Princess Armina and her handmaidens wear colorful glittery gowns. Her wedding dress, with fringe and a huge chiffon skirt, practically floats around her. Genie Babs looks great with her bright red hair and blue-green outfits. There are also exotic Arabian dancers, and songs.The sets are lavish. The palace has ornate gates and balconies. Outside scenes were filmed at the Vasquez Rocks. This film received Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects. I hope a DVD is released soon.

Aladdin (Cornel Wilde) falls in love with Princess Armina (Adele Jergens). She loves him too but she can't marry a poor man. Aladdin finds a lantern, rubs it and our comes a female genie named Babs (Evelyn Keyes). Aladdin orders her to make him a rich prince so he will be able to marry the princess--but Babs starts to fall in love with Aladdin! Abdullah (Phil Silvers), Aladdin's buddy tags along.If you take the Arabian Nights stories seriously this will probably have you horrified. However if you take it for what it is (a fun, silly movie) you'll love it. It was shot in bright Technicolor with huge sets, a large cast and excellent special effects. It's obvious that Paramount spent a LOT of money on this. The script moves quickly and one-liners (mostly by Silvers) go flying left and right. Some of the lines are groaners but (more often than not) they're right on target.Acting--Wilde is tall, hunky and incredibly handsome. He even sings a few songs (!!!). Silvers could have very easily been annoying--but he's actually quite funny and full of life. Jergens and Keyes are both beautiful and good in their roles. Also Rex Ingram has a pointless (but interesting) cameo as another genie and Shelly Winters plays a harem girl! Cute, colorful, lavish and lots of fun. Worth catching. Perfect for the whole family.

Escapist fare was always welcome during the troubled '40s-era, especially just after World War II when movie fans were clamoring for entertainment to take their minds off their woes. So Columbia jumped onto the bandwagon with a fluffy Arabian Nights sort of adventure starring their hot new box-office star, CORNEL WILDE as Aladdin in A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, teaming him with up and coming EVELYN KEYES and wise-cracking PHIL SILVERS for comedy relief.And with eye-popping Technicolor added to the mix, it's a pleasure to report that it succeeds as escapist fare on its own terms--with Silvers largely stealing the show with his array of anachronistic gags that help whenever the action gets dull.But that's not too often. CORNEL WILDE was an ideal choice to play the adventure hero Columbia assigned him to after his success as the pallid Chopin in A SONG TO REMEMBER. He's at home among the plush fairy-tale settings and shares some charming on screen chemistry with co-star EVELYN KEYES, but only has one chance (at the finale) to indulge in a swashbuckling duel with Hoey. Wilde turned down a chance for the Olympic championships in dueling to start his film career instead.DENNIS HOEY plays the Sultan and his villainous twin brother with energetic relish. Wilde's romantic interest is ADELE JERGENS as the Sultan's beauteous daughter. The story, of course, is a tongue-in-cheek variation on Aladdin's use of the magic lamp with the help of Genie (Keyes) instead of the genie we all saw in THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (Rex Ingram), who makes an appearance in the film as a token gesture.It's all complete nonsense, with typical humor from Silvers ("I wish I had a gun. What am I sayin'? Guns haven't even been invented yet!"). He's turned into a crooning Sinatra after Genie Keyes decides to do him a final favor with a rub of the lamp. She gets her wish too--a clone of Cornel Wilde so that she doesn't end up alone.Pure escapist fun, totally unsophisticated and clearly aimed at a youthful audience of the '40s crowd. Whether you like it or not, depends on your sense of humor and nostalgia for this sort of thing.