''Harum Scarum'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''Harem Holiday'') is a 1965 American musical comedy film starring

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

. It was shot on the original Cecil B. DeMille set from the film ''

The King of Kings King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...

'', with additional footage shot on location at the Iverson Movie Ranch in

Chatsworth, Los Angeles Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

. Some of the film was based on

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...

's 1921 movie '' The Sheik''.Leider, Emily W., ''Dark Lover: The life and death of Rudolph Valentino'', p. 152-153 The film reached #11 on the ''Variety'' national weekly box office chart, earned $2 million at the box office, and finished #40 on the year end list of the top-grossing films of 1965. The film is listed in

Golden Raspberry Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy ...

founder John Wilson's book ''

The Official Razzie Movie Guide ''The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst'' is a book about the booby prize award show the Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies), written by John Wilson, founder of the awards ceremony. The book was published in 2005 ...

'' as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.

Synopsis

American movie star Johnny Tyrone goes to the Middle East to premiere his new picture. He is seduced by the lovely Aishah, then kidnapped by a man named Sinan who wants Johnny to help him kill the king in the fictional town of Bar Esalaam. Johnny escapes the palace with the help of a slave girl, Shalimar. Once out of the palace walls, Johnny tells her that he was brought to the Middle East to assassinate the king, which causes Shalimar to run off in fear as she is actually the king's daughter. Johnny meets up with his fellow escapee Zacha and makes a plan to foil the assassination plot by joining a troupe of musicians who will be going to entertain the people of Bar Esalaam on the last day of

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

. Johnny successfully befriends the troupe, but that night they are ambushed by Aishah and her men after being betrayed by Zacha. Aishah orders Johnny to go through with the assassination after threatening the lives of the musicians and their children. Meanwhile, Princess Shalimar can not shake the feelings she has for Johnny. On the day of the festivities Johnny reluctantly moves in to kill the King but is thwarted by Shalimar. Johnny, the musicians and the kids are sentenced to death. The troupe is spared death after they are rescued by their associate, a

dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...

named Baba. Johnny breaks into the King's room and convinces him that he was

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

ed into the plot by Sinan and also confesses his love for Shalimar. The King believes Johnny and helps him infiltrate Sinan's lair where it is revealed that the man who orchestrated the assassination plot was none other than the King's brother Prince Dragna. Johnny manages to overpower Sinan but learns that his army has grown in number and taken the town by force. Johnny, The King, Shalimar, the musicians and the remorseful Zacha gather as many of the King's most loyal servants to battle the assassins and take back the town while the King enters Dragna's hideout vowing revenge. However it is revealed that rather than kill Dragna he has chosen to

banish Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples su ...

him after besting him in a game of

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

. Johnny asks the King not to banish him to the United States. With order restored, Johnny and his new royal bride honeymoon in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

, along with a few of her dancing girls.

Primary cast

as Johnny Tyronne * Mary Ann Mobley as Princess Shalimar * Fran Jeffries as Aishah *

Michael Ansara Michael George Ansara (April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013) was an American actor. He portrayed Cochise in the television series '' Broken Arrow'', Kane in the 1979–1981 series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', Commander Kang in '' Star Tr ...

as Prince Dragna * Jay Novello as Zacha * Philip Reed as King Toranshah * Theo Marcuse as Sinan *

Billy Barty Billy Barty (born William John Bertanzetti, October 25, 1924 – December 23, 2000) was an American actor and activist. In adult life, he stood tall, due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism. Because of his short stature, he was often cast ...

as Baba * Dirk Harvey as Mokar *

Jack Costanzo Jack Costanzo (September 24, 1919 – August 18, 2018) was an American percussionist. Biography A composer, conductor and drummer, Costanzo is best known for having been a bongo player, and was nicknamed "Mr. Bongo". He visited Havana three ...

as Julna * Larry Chance as Captain Herat *

Barbara Werle Barbara May Theresa Werle (October 6, 1928 – January 1, 2013) was an American actress, dancer and singer, best known for her role in ''Seconds'' (1966). Career Werle was born on October 6, 1928, in Mount Vernon, New York. She became a ballro ...

as Leilah *

Brenda Benet Brenda Benet (born Brenda Ann Nelson; August 14, 1945 – April 7, 1982) was an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the soap operas ''The Young Marrieds'' (1965–1965) and ''Days of Our Lives'' (1979–1982). She was also fea ...

as Emerald *

Gail Gilmore Gail Gilmore (born Gail Gerber, October 4, 1937 – March 2, 2014) was a Canadian television and film actress and ballet dancer. She was from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She was sometimes known as Gail Gibson. Dancing career In 1952, at age 15, s ...

as Sapphire * Wilda Taylor as Amethyst * Vicki Malkin as Sari * Ryck Rydon as Mustapha * Joey Russo as Yussef

Production

Upon hearing about the movie for the first time, Elvis loved the idea of his character as being similar to a sheik. Eventually, he grew tired of the film because his character was made to look like a fool. Similar to Elvis' misconception of the script,

Colonel Tom Parker Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997),

thought the film was a comedy and suggested introducing a talking

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Home media

''Harum Scarum'' was released to DVD by Warner Home Video on August 7, 2007, as a Region 1 widescreen DVD.

Soundtrack

Reception

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote in a negative review that Presley walked through the film "with all the animation of a man under deep sedation, but then he had read the script". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the picture "suffers from a lack of imagination" in providing Presley with a "substantial showcase", but that the eight song numbers in the film would "probably meet with response similar to Presley's past entries". Margaret Harford of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' wrote, "Nobody, least of all Elvis, can bring parody to heel in this effort from MGM, directed by Gene Nelson. Presley isn't

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

and Mary Ann Mobley, beauty winner though she is, won't pass for

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...

. Put them together and you realize right off that ''Harum Scarum'' isn't going to be much fun." Jack Shaheen listed ''Harum Scarum'' in his "Worst List" of films with anti-Arab stereotypes.

References

External links

Interview with Mary Ann Mobley
*

by Chad Plambeck at 3-B Theater

by J. Bannerman at Stomp Tokyo, 2003
Review
by Mark Zimmer at digitallyOBSESSED!, August 1, 2004
Review
by Dennis Prince at DVD Verdict, July 30, 2004

* ttp://iversonmovieranch.blogspot.com/ Iverson Movie Ranch: History, vintage photos. {{Sam Katzman 1965 films 1965 musical comedy films American musical comedy films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films about actors Films directed by Gene Nelson 1960s English-language films 1960s American films