Siren of Bagdad (1953)
Directed by Richard Quine
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Everyone involved with Siren of Bagdad decided early on that this adventure could never be taken seriously; thus it's played strictly for laughs, and actually earns a few. Paul Henried stars as an Arabian-Nights magician who becomes involved with a passel of harem girls and an usurping sultan. We know what to expect from the rest of the film when, in the very first scene, Henried burlesques his Now Voyager role by smoking two hookahs, then handing one to a lady friend ("Nine out of ten Arabian doctors recommend this brand"). As Henried's comic sidekick, Hans Conried is forced to deliver such lines as "Excuse me, sir; I know they haven't been invented yet, but have you got a match?" Hardly a gut-buster, Siren of Bagdad is fitfully amusing if you're willing to go along for the ride.
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Keywords
damsel-in-distress, harem, Sultan, slave-trader, rescue