''The Magic Carpet'' is a 1951 American

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by

Lew Landers Lew Landers (born Louis Friedlander, January 2, 1901 – December 16, 1962) was an American independent film and television director. Biography Born as Louis Friedlander in New York City, Lew Landers began his movie career as an actor. In 1914, ...

and written by David Mathews. The film, shot in SuperCinecolor, stars

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

John Agar John George Agar Jr. (January 31, 1921 – April 7, 2002) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', '' Fort Apache'', and '' She Wore a Yellow Ribbon''. In h ...

Patricia Medina Patricia Paz Maria Medina (19 July 1919 – 28 April 2012) was a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films ''Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' (1954) and ''Mr. Arkadin'' (1955). Early life Medina was born on 19 July 1919 ...

George Tobias George Tobias (July 14, 1901 – February 27, 1980) was an American theater, film and television actor. He had character parts and supporting roles in several major films of Hollywood's Golden Age. He is also known for his role as Abner ...

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor who had a lengthy Hollywood film career and portrayed the title roles in the television dramas '' Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career inclu ...

Gregory Gaye Gregory Gaye (born Grigoriy Grigoryevich Ge; October 10, 1900 – August 23, 1993) was a Russian-American character actor. The son of an actor, he was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the uncle of actor George Gaynes. He was a cad ...

Rick Vallin Rick Vallin (born Eric Efron; September 24, 1919 – August 31, 1977) was an actor who appeared in more than 150 films between 1938 and 1966. Early years Born in Feodosia, in the Crimea, Russia, Vallin came to the United States at age three w ...

and Gary Klein. It was released on October 18, 1951 by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, three days after Ball's ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

'' premiered.

Plot

Omar, a

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

, and Yazmina, a queen, arrange their infant son Ramoth's escape when rival Ali moves to forcibly overthrow them. Before they are slain, they ensure that the baby, his locket and

magic carpet A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet and common trope in fantasy fiction. It is typically used as a form of transportation and can quickly or instantaneously carry its user(s) to their destination. In literature On ...

are kept in the safe hands of Ahkmid, an uncle and physician who raises Ramoth to manhood. Ramoth, unaware that he is the rightful heir but disapproving of Ali's tyranny, disguises himself as the Scarlet Falcon and, assisted by his friend Razi and Razi's beautiful sister Lida, attempts to disrupt the caliph's reign. The evil Boreg becomes his nemesis, as does Narah, a princess who is the sister of Ali. Ahkmid, mortally wounded by Boreg, reveals his true identity to Ramoth. Lida endeavors to infiltrate Ali's forces by disguising herself as a dancer, but she is caught and imprisoned. Ramoth is also taken prisoner, but Lida escapes and sends the magic carpet to rescue Ramoth in the nick of time. Ali is killed and Narah is placed in a dungeon as Ramoth and Lida fly away on the carpet to begin a new life.

Cast

as Princess Narah *

as Abdullah al Husan / Dr. Ramoth / The Scarlet Falcon *

as Lida *

as Razi *

as Grand Vizier Boreg al Buzzar *

as Caliph Ali *

as Abdul * Jo Gilbert as Maras * Gary Klein as Baby

Reception

In his two-star review,

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...

described ''The Magic Carpet'' as a " ld costumer that has virtue of Ball as heroine, and little else," although Patricia Medina portrays the actual heroine in the film. The film was also described as a ’routine effort’.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magic Carpet (film), The 1951 films American adventure films 1951 adventure films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Lew Landers Cinecolor films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language adventure films Films produced by Sam Katzman