Starring Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone, and Dolores Gray
Directed by Vincent Minelli
Music by Aleksander Borodin; Lyrics by Bob Wright and Chet Forest
Wright and Forest's romantic adaptation of the 1911 play was a huge hit on Broadway in 1953. Having had luck turning Scandinavian composter Grieg's music into the operetta Song of Norway, they turned to the more exotic music of Borodin for this Arabian Nights-style fable. MGM already owned the play and almost as soon as the show ended its run, set out to film its musical version as well. How does this tale of lovers and poets who find their fortunes in the course of one fateful day look now? Let's begin in ancient Baghdad, where a poor Poet (Keel) is going about his day, and find out..
The Story: The Poet goes on to have one of the longest days in the history of the universe. First, he's kidnapped by a man named Jawan (Jay C. Flippen) who insists he put a curse on him that caused his son to be stolen. The Poet's given gold coins for removing the curse, but is arrested by the Wazir's (Sebastian Cabot) men. The Wazir is about to sentence the Poet, but then Jawan reveals whom he really is. He ends up making the Poet one of his men instead. The Poet schemes with the Wazir's bored wife Lalume (Gray) to make up an elaborate curse-reversal scheme...and meanwhile discover they're attracted to each other.
Elsewhere, the Poet's daughter Marsinah (Blyth) falls for the handsome Calliph (Damone), believing him to be the gardener's son. The Calliph declares that he plans to marry a bride that night...to the dismay of the Wazir, who needs him to marry the princess of a neighboring country in order to secure a loan. The Poet tries to get Marsinah out of town, but Lalume hides her in the palace instead. Now the Poet has to figure out how to save them all, before the Wazir figures out he's no more a magician than he is an honest man.
The Song and Dance: If you love Arabian Knights spectacles, you'll really get a kick out of this one. Keel puts in one of his best performances as the hammy, cunning beggar who seizes the opportunity to get him and his daughter out of the gutter, and Gray and her belting more than match him. Cabot's having a good time as the scheming Wazir too. Cole's unusual stylized choreography fits far better in this colorful setting than it did in the biography The I Don't Care Girl, with him redoing several of his ballets from the Broadway show.
Favorite Number: We open with the Poet singing in the crowds what "Fate" has in store for him and for all of them if they buy his rhymes. One of the ballets is staged to "Not Since Ninevah" as six slaves perform a lively dance in the market with Lalume. "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" was one of the big hits; Blyth gets it here as the market sellers press Marsinah with beautiful jewels and fabrics. "Stranger In Paradise" is the soaring hit duet for the Calliph and Marsinah as they declare their love for each other in the garden. We get another ballet with the princesses and slaves, this time to "Night of My Nights" as the Calliph declares he's to wed. "And This Is My Beloved" has Marsinah trying to explain her newfound love to her father, while the Calliph dreams of his beautiful missing bride.
Trivia: Yes, that was Jamie Farr, better known as Corporal Klinger from the TV sitcom MASH, selling oranges in the marketplace and whom the Poet holds down and calls "the father of none and the son of many." Future TV producer Aaron Spelling also turns up as a beggar.
The original Kismet was a surprise hit in 1953, running for over a year and going over equally well in London. It was revived with an all-black cast as Timbuktu in 1978, with Eartha Kitt in the Lalume role. It hasn't been seen on Broadway outside of Encores concerts since, but it did turn up as recently as 2007 in England.
What I Don't Like: Wish they hadn't lost several songs from the original show. The Wazir's comic number "Was I Wazir?" may have been a bit too dark for the movie, with its gristly descriptions of the Wazir's conquests and tortures...but why cut Lalume's part of "And This Is My Beloved?" It's not quite as charming done with three singers. Blyth's all right as gentle Marsinah, but Damone is completely out of his element as the Calliph. He doesn't sound like a ruler. He sounds like the crooner he is.
It's also obvious Vincent Minelli wasn't interested in Arabian Knights fantasies. The crowd shots in particular look much skimpier than they should, while others come off as less "Arabian fable" than "high school production of Aladdin in Technicolor."
The Big Finale: Fans of operetta, Keel, or Aladdin-style Arabian swashbucklers will want to throw themselves to fate and give this one a look.
Home Media: On streaming and disc, the latter from the Warner Archives.
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