Starring Sal Mineo, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Cyril Ritchard, and Una Merkel
Directed by Ralph Nelson
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Cole Porter was one of the most beloved songwriters on two sides of the Atlantic from the late 1920's through the mid-1950's. He saw a career revival with the success of Kiss Me Kate, but the late 50's saw the one-two punch of the amputation of his legs after years of pain from a riding accident and the death of his wife and companion Linda. These two incidents took their toll and sent him into seclusion for what little remained of his life...but he did pull out of his depression long enough to pen the score for this early TV musical. How does this Arabian Nights tale come off today? Let's head to old Peking as Sui-Janel the Sorcerer (Ritchard) tells how he tried to take over China and find out...
The Story: Aladdin (Mineo) lives with his widowed mother (Merkel) in the marketplace of old Peking. One day, an old gentleman comes to their home and claims to be his long-lost uncle. He convinces his mother and Wu Fang (Howard Morris), a pickpocket, to let the boy retrieve a priceless object from a cave.
Aladdin does find the lamp, but he ends up trapped in the cave. Rubbing the lamp reveals a Genie (Geoffrey Holder), who grants his wish to be free. His mother and Wu Fang don't believe him and think he's ill, but he knows what he saw. He next asks to see the Princess Ming Chou (Alberghetti), whom he met in the marketplace when he helped with her carriage. They fall for each other, but her father the Emperor (Basil Rathbone) demands Aladdin perform a feat of magic before they can be wed. Trouble is, he can't unless he has the Genie, and his mother and Wu Fang sold the lamp to the Sorcerer in disguise. Now, unless Aladdin can get that lamp back, the Sorcerer will overthrow the Emperor and take over all of China!
The Song and Dance: One thing I like about this one is the fidelity to the original Arabian Nights story. Aladdin was actually set in China, not in the Middle Eastern countries like in most versions of the story. Some of the performances are pretty decent, too. Dennis King does well enough as an astrologer who is in cahoots with the Sorcerer to send Aladdin to him, Rathbone brings gravity to his role as the tempermental Emperor, and Holder certainly looks the part of the Genie when he is seen. Speaking of seen, what little can be seen of the sets and costumes in the blurry black-and-white print on YouTube indicate that this was an attractive production, redolent of a fairy-tale, plum blossom-strewn Asia.
Favorite Number: Ritchard gets off to a strong start with the show's most memorable song, the patter number "Come to the Supermarket" describing everything sold in Peking's market stalls. The Astrologer performs the soaring "Trust Your Destiny" twice, once in order to convince Aladdin to join the Sorcerer at the cave, and later when he's wishing he could marry the Princess. Richard, Morris, and Merkel remind Aladdin that "Opportunity Knocks but Once," and that he should take a chance if he wants more of out life. Alberghetti and Mineo duet on "I Adore You" when the Genie allows Aladdin to enter the palace and admit his love to Ming Chou.
Trivia: Originally part of the DuPont Show of the Month series; the copy on YouTube comes complete with the original commercials advertising DuPont's chemical products.
The soundtrack album includes a song for the Chamberlain (George Hall), "Wouldn't It Be Fun," that was cut from the film. It features the last lyrics Cole Porter ever wrote.
What I Don't Like: No matter how good the performances or songs are, it still comes down to this being a cast of white actors in unconvincing Asian makeup playing Chinese stereotypes. Other than the funny opening "Supermarket" number, Cole Porter's last score is far from his best as well. The ravages of time have been especially hard on this, too. It was only seen once, on it's original release, and other than the YouTube copy, can only be found in museums. The Paley Center really needs to throw some money towards restoring the fuzzy black-and-white kinetoscope currently available for viewing.
The Big Finale: Only if you really love the cast, 50's musicals, or Porter. All others would be fine looking up Porter's earlier scores.
Home Media: At press time, this rare bit of TV history can only be found on YouTube.
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