''Song of Scheherazade'' is a 1947 American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...

directed by

Walter Reisch Walter Reisch (May 23, 1903 – March 28, 1983) was an Austrian-born director and screenwriter. He also wrote lyrics to several songs featured in his films, one popular title is "Flieger, grüß mir die Sonne". He was married to the dancer and ...

. It tells the story of an imaginary episode in the life of the Russian composer

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

(

Jean-Pierre Aumont Jean-Pierre Aumont (born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons; 5 January 1911 – 30 January 2001) was a French actor, and holder of the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre for his World War II military service. Early life Aumont was born Jea ...

), in 1865, when he was a young naval officer on shore leave in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

. It also features

Yvonne De Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 1950s, made several recordings, and later ...

as a Spanish dancer named Cara de Talavera,

Eve Arden Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades. Beginning her film career in 1929 ...

as her mother, and

Brian Donlevy Waldo Brian Donlevy (February 9, 1901 – April 6, 1972) was an American actor, noted for playing dangerous tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best-known films are ''Beau Geste'' (193 ...

as the ship's captain. Charles Kullman (credited as Charles Kullmann), a tenor with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

, plays the ship's doctor, Klin, who sings two of Rimsky-Korsakov's melodies.

Plot

Rimsky-Korsakov, a midshipman in the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...

, secretly yearns to be a composer, but naval regulations prevent him from doing so. He uses a stopover in

Tangiers Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

to work on his next composition, ''

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major female character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade'' der ...

'' (which is actually a

symphonic suite A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes wi ...

but in the film is a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

), with the tacit support of his captain. There he meets Cara de Talavera and her mother, and romantic events and complications ensue. He has to leave to return home to Russia, where his ballet is staged, but Cara unexpectedly turns up as one of the dancers, and they are reunited.

Cast

–

– Cara de Talavera *

– Madame de Talavera *

– Captain Vladimir Grigorovich * Charles Kullman – Dr Klin (as Charles Kullmann) * Elena Verdugo – Fioretta *

Phillip Reed Phillip Reed (born Milton LeRoy; March 25, 1908 – December 7, 1996) was an American actor. He played Steve Wilson in a series of four films (1947–1948) based on the '' Big Town'' radio series. Early years Reed was a star athlete at Er ...

– Prince Mischetsky *

John Qualen John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was an American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles. Early years Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son ...

– Lorenzo * George Dolenz – Pierre, the head waiter * Terry Kilburn – Midshipman Lorin *

William Ching William Brooks Ching (October 2, 1913 – July 1, 1989) was an American character actor who appeared in numerous films and on television during the later 1940s and 1950s. Ching may be best known for his supporting role in Rudolph Maté's 1950 fi ...

– Midshipman * Molio Sheron – Basso * Robert Kendall – Hassan (uncredited) *

Chester Conklin Chester Cooper Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with Ma ...

– sailor (uncredited)

Production

The entry of the United States into World War II meant they were allies of the Soviet Union, and films with Russian themes became fashionable in Hollywood. In April 1942 it was announced that producers S.P. Eagle and

Boris Morros Boris Morros (; January 1, 1891 - January 8, 1963) was an American Communist Party member, Soviet agent, and FBI double agent. He also worked at Paramount Pictures, where he produced films as well as supervising their music department. Life and ...

, who had just made ''

Tales of Manhattan ''Tales of Manhattan'' is a 1942 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. Thirteen writers, including Ben Hecht, Alan Campbell, Ferenc Molnár, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Donald Ogden Stewart, worked on the six stories in this film. Ba ...

'' (1942) for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

, had acquired the film rights to the music of Rimsky-Korsakoff through the Russian government.

would write the story which would cover three days the composer spent on leave in 1860 while touring the world on a Russian naval ship, where he wrote "The Scheherazade Suite". It was going to be called ''Russian Marines''. Morros and Eagle did not wind up producing the film and rights to the music and script reverted to Reisch. Reisch says Joe Pasternak wanted to buy the property for MGM but Reisch says they would not let him direct.

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, w ...

was interested in the project for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

but Reisch's agent,

Charles Feldman Charles K. Feldman (April 26, 1905 – May 25, 1968) was a Hollywood attorney, film producer and talent agent who founded the Famous Artists talent agency. According to one obituary, Feldman disdained publicity. "Feldman was an enigma to Holly ...

, set up the film at Universal. Yvonne in Song of Scheherezade

Yvonne de Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 1950s, made several recordings, and later ...

says that Reisch was offered

Maria Montez María África Gracia Vidal (6 June 1912 – 7 September 1951), known professionally as Maria Montez, was a Dominican motion picture actress who gained fame and popularity in the 1940s starring in a series of filmed-in-Technicolor costume ...

and de Carlo for the lead. Reisch says that all but one of his colleagues – including

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holly ...

– recommended

for the lead, except

Sam Spiegel Samuel P. Spiegel (November 11, 1901December 31, 1985) was an American independent film producer born in the Galician area of Austria-Hungary. Financially responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of the 20th centur ...

(Eagle) who told him, "Don't make a picture with this girl, because, while she may be a star, she's not your type. She's much too—let's say plebeian—in her bearing." De Carlo's casting was announced in August 1945.

Miklós Rózsa Miklós Rózsa (; April 18, 1907 – July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensi ...

signed to do the music. Jean Pierre Aumont was borrowed from MGM to play the male lead; de Carlo says that Reisch was not happy with this casting because he had a French accent while the rest of the cast had American accents, but the studio over-ruled him. Filming began 15 January 1946. During filming the title was changed to ''Shahrazad''. According to Robert Kendall, the actor who played the boy-servant Hassan in this movie,

regretted taking on the role of Madame de Talavera, complaining that she was actually too young for the part. And

's wife, former Universal Studios film-queen

, was often present on the set during her husband's passionate scenes with

Soundtrack and choreography

The film contains much colourful music and dancing. The choreography was by

Tilly Losch Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon (''née'' Losch; November 15, 1903 – December 24, 1975), known professionally as Tilly Losch, was an Austrian dancer, choreographer, actress, and painter who lived and worked for most of ...

. Rimsky-Korsakov's music was orchestrated by

and (uncredited) Eugene Zador. Themes by Rimsky-Korsakov that are used include: "Song of India" from '' Sadko'' (sung by Charles Kullman); '' Flight of the Bumblebee'' from '' The Tale of Tsar Saltan''; "Hymn to the Sun" from '' The Golden Cockerel''; ''

Capriccio Espagnol ''Capriccio espagnol'', Op. 34, is the common Western title for a five movement orchestral suite, based on Spanish folk melodies, composed by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1887. It received its premiere on 31 October 1887, in St ...

'', and ''

''.

Release

The filmmakers expected censorship problems with Yvonne De Carlo's costumes so submitted them all beforehand for approval. However the censor found issue with Eve Arden's costumes, requiring some of her scenes to be re-shot. The film also took a while to be released because of delays at the Technicolor lab.

Reception

The film was a success at the box office earning $2.1 million in rentals in North America. According to Reisch, Universal "had an enormous success with" the film "because I succeeded in making the picture very inexpensively." However it also got terrible reviews and Reisch felt it cost him the chance of directing again. He later said:

If you make a picture called ''Song of Scheherazade'', with " Song of India" in it, and the " Caprice Espagnole" and " The Flight of the Bumble Bee", all by Rimsky-Korsakov, and if Yvonne De Carlo is the inspiration for all of this, you are leaving yourself wide open for criticism. Today I accept it with a certain sense of humor. But the studio people just didn't believe in my direction s a consequence and I never got a picture to direct in Hollywood again.

References

External links

* *{{TCMDb title, 90850
Review of film
at ''Variety'' 1947 films 1947 musical films Films directed by Walter Reisch Films set in Morocco Films set in Russia Films about classical music and musicians Films about composers Universal Pictures films Films set in 1865 American musical films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films