''Adventure in Iraq'' is a 1943 American

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, a ...

directed by

D. Ross Lederman David Ross Lederman (December 12, 1894 – August 24, 1972) was an American film director noted for his Western/action/adventure films of the 1930s and 1940s. Starting out as an extra in Mack Sennett's Keystone Cops series, Lederman worked ...

and starring John Loder, Ruth Ford, Warren Douglas and

Paul Cavanagh William Grigs Atkinson (8 December 1888 – 15 March 1964), known professionally as Paul Cavanagh, was an English film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1928 and 1959. Life and career Cavanagh was born in Felling, ...

. The film is based on the 1921 play '' The Green Goddess'' by

William Archer William or Bill Archer may refer to: * William Archer (British politician) (1677–1739), British politician * William S. Archer (1789–1855), U.S. Senator and Representative from Virginia * William Beatty Archer (1793–1870), Illinois politicia ...

Plot

Three Americans flying a small plane to Cairo, Egypt, are forced by engine failure to land in Iraq and are taken prisoner by an Arab chieftain.

Cast

* John Loder as George Torrence * Ruth Ford as Tess Torrence * Warren Douglas as Doug Everett *

as Sheik Ahmid Bel Nor *Barry Bernard as Devins *Peggy Carson as Timah Devins * Martin Garralaga as High Priest *Bill Crago as Air Force Capt. Carson * John George as Small Iraqi in Courtyard *Manuel López as Tall Priest in Courtyard * Bill Edwards as Air Force Sergeant

Production

The film was made by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

as a

programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

. It was a remake of Archer's play ''The Green Goddess'', updating the action to modern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. It encountered strong objections from the OWI, who charged that its plot was unintentionally both anti-British and anti-Arab and was potentially offensive to America's ally and to neutral Arab countries. The film was already granted an export licence, but pressure from the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...

overrode this. Consequently, it was the only Warners' film not to receive an overseas release during the 1940s.

Reception

Writing in

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

, critic Frank Miller noted that, "Warner Bros. had no problem re-making '' The Green Goddess'', the twice-filmed tale of a duplicitous, lustful Himalayan Raja, as ''Adventure in Iraq'', the tale of a duplicitous, lustful Iraqi sheikh. In truth, the writers seem to have expended more effort updating the story to World War II than they did changing the location and the villain's cultural background." He also described the film as "hardly an A-picture" with a cast "made up of low-budget veterans." A review of the film by Craig Butler in AllMovie noted that "the plot is overly familiar and not especially believable. Dialogue is of the cliched and stilted variety, and the characters have stock written all over them. David Ross Lederman's by the book direction doesn't help matters." The film earned $147,000 domestically and did not earn anything outside the US because it was not released there.

References

Bibliography

* Glancy, H. Mark. ''When Hollywood Loved Britain: The Hollywood 'British' Film 1939-1945''. Manchester University Press, 1999.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventure In Iraq 1943 films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1943 adventure films Warner Bros. films American films based on plays American aviation films Films set in Iraq World War II films made in wartime Films directed by D. Ross Lederman American adventure films