''Siren of Bagdad'' is a 1953

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

fantasy adventure film produced by

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. E ...

and directed by

Richard Quine Richard Quine (November 12, 1920June 10, 1989) was an American director, actor, and singer. He began acting as a child in radio, vaudeville, and stage productions before being signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in his early twenties. When his acting ...

set in the medieval Persian Empire. It stars Paul Henreid as a travelling Master magician who seeks to recover his troop of beautiful dancing girls who are to be sold into slavery. Patricia Medina portrays his love interest who seeks to overthrow the corrupt

Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

with the magician's help.

Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's '' Dud ...

plays the sidekick to Quine's magician, who is transformed into a beautiful blonde woman who spies and distracts the Grand Vizier while retaining Conried's voice.

Premise

Kazah the Great ( Paul Henreid), a magician is traveling in Arabia with a circus.

Cast

Patricia Medina-Siren of Bagdad-Promo-Van Pelt

* Paul Henreid as Kazah the Great * Patricia Medina as Princess Zandi *

as Ben Ali * Charles Lung as Sultan El Malid *

Laurette Luez Laurette Luez (born Loretta Mary Luiz; August 19, 1928 – September 12, 1999) was an American supporting actress and successful commercial model who appeared in films and on television during a 20-year career. She was a widely known Hollywood ce ...

as Orena * Anne Dore as Leda *

George Keymas George Keymas (November 18, 1925 – January 17, 2008) was an American film and television actor.Martin p.68 Keymas graduated from Springfield (Ohio) High School. Keymas began his Hollywood career in 1950, mainly in Westerns. His first screen ...

as Soradin * Michael Fox as Telar * Karl Davis as Morab * Carl Milletaire as Hamid

Production

Patricia Medina signed a three-picture contract with Sam Katzman, of which this was the first. Filming started 3 September 1952. It was Henreid's third swashbuckler for Katzman. The actor later recalled that Quine "wanted to do the film as a satire, a Chaplinesque burlesque of pirate films."

Reception

The movie had a successful preview which Henreid said "Every situation joke worked; the audience howled. I came out beaming, and producer Sam Katzman, Quine and I congratulated one another on the very funny picture." He said Katzman's wife was the only one who did not think the film would be a success, saying "People who go to pirate pictures want just that, a pirate picture. They aren’t as sophisticated as this preview audience. They want their pictures to follow a strict formula. This picture pokes fun at the sacred formula—and I don’t think they’ll accept that." Henreid said "she was absolutely right. The picture was a flop! "

Comic book adaptation

* Eastern Color Movie Love #21 (June 1953)

References

External links

* *
review of film
at ''Variety'' * * {{Sam Katzman 1953 films 1950s adventure comedy films 1950s historical comedy films American adventure comedy films American historical comedy films Films directed by Richard Quine Columbia Pictures films Films set in Baghdad Films adapted into comics 1953 comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films