As if the Maria Montez/Jon Hall/Sabu color fests dealing with similar tales over at Universal weren't camp enough, Columbia gives us this "Hellzapoppin'" type spoof,a jive-talking', slang filled satire that is only missing Robert Hays responding, "Shirley, You Can't Be Serious!". From the moment the bespeckled Phil Silvers comes on screen (glasses weren't invented until 500 years after this takes place!), you know you are in for a wacky ride. His references to Lana Turner and television simply confirm that. Cornel Wilde is Aladdin, the handsome beefy hero who loves the Sultan's daughter (Adele Jergens) after invading her caravan and has won her love as well. But evil is afoot, and after dealing with giant Rex Ingram (repeating his role from "The Thief of Bagdad"), Wilde and Silvers find the lamp an evil sorcerer has sent them looking for, and find it contains the beautiful but wise-cracking Evelyn Keyes. As far removed from "Gone With the Wind's" Tara (where Keyes played Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister) as she could get, Keyes falls in love with Wilde and schemes in her teasing way to prevent him from winning the princess. The story cleverly utilizes aspects of the Arabian Knights tales ("New lamps for old", in particularly) with genuine satire, and is as colorful as the Rita Hayworth musicals that Columbia was turning out. In certain shots, Jergens seems to be photographed and made up exactly as Hayworth was in "Cover Girl".
Columbia took a break from its string of Robin Hood adventure yarns for this sword & sandal fest, and came up with a winner. Wilde is a charming hero, Jergens a sweet but spunky princess, and Keyes going down Eve Arden territory with a touch of teenie bopper crush thrown in. Silvers provides some humor that may be considered dated, but some of his gags are timeless. There are enough villains to give Disney's "Aladdin's" Jafar a run for his money, although on closer examination, the plot of the movie resembles "The Lion King". The ending provides one of the funniest gags on screen imaginable.
Columbia took a break from its string of Robin Hood adventure yarns for this sword & sandal fest, and came up with a winner. Wilde is a charming hero, Jergens a sweet but spunky princess, and Keyes going down Eve Arden territory with a touch of teenie bopper crush thrown in. Silvers provides some humor that may be considered dated, but some of his gags are timeless. There are enough villains to give Disney's "Aladdin's" Jafar a run for his money, although on closer examination, the plot of the movie resembles "The Lion King". The ending provides one of the funniest gags on screen imaginable.