Bagdad (1949) User Reviews (20)

Maureen: a star with dramatic ambition...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 6/10 · 7 June 2001]

Charles Lamont's 'Bagdad' set the tone for Maureen's 1950s film career...

In past adventure movies, she had been merely the irritable and decorative female lead... Now she moved into the full limelight, demanding the screen title once held by Maria Montez, and more recently by Yvonne DeCarlo, as Queen of the period adventure tales...

More than Montez and DeCarlo, Maureen is a spirited and robust actress who can stand up to any hero. She combines her surprising screen beauty with an athletic finesse that allow her to move smoothly from a star with dramatic ambition to a Queen of the B-adventure movies...

'Bagdad' encloses all the fundamental escapist entertainments that flourishes Maureen's appeal: Technicolor lensing, a handsome, co-star not so dynamic, and a weak script which permits Maureen complete freedom to win her noble screen causes with her own feminine persuasion and many vigorous swashbuckling...

With dishonest dealings among the sheiks of Bagdad, princess Maureen, who assumes the disguise of a café entertainer and who sings three songs, learns to her relief that Paul Christian is not the leader of the cowardly Black Riders, a desert gang in partnership with the corrupt Pasha Vincent Price...

Goofy but game "Eastern" extravaganza

[whitec-3 · 5/10 · 21 August 2007]

As other posters note, the plot of Bagdad is incoherent, though its momentum and the good-bad IDs are always clear. It's one of those odd paste-jewelry gems of the mid-century Hollywood studios. Overall the prevailing aesthetic is camp, especially given the outrageousness of Maureen O'Hara as a red-haired, green-eyed, candle-cheeked Bedouin princess and the languid Swede Paul Hibschmud / Christian in the Valentino slot.

But if Bagdad is campy junk, it's not exactly cheap junk. The color is touching, as are the efficiently managed sets. If you look closely at the California desert shots, you'll see many a rock outcropping used in Western chases with cowboys.

Bagdad is not a Western, though, but an "Eastern." As another poster noted, Maria Montez was the icon of this minor movement in Hollywood genre films. As with other such potboilers, one of the pleasures is the precise performance of the character actors, e. g. John Sutton as the villain and whoever plays the sentimental role of the old retainer to the princess's father.

Plenty of credit to O'Hara and Price for carrying the film. The scenario has so many lurches and fillers that you see something in these actors beyond mere talent, though both have plenty. Beyond talent, they're both troopers who never flinch when the script double-clutches--they brave every scene through, holding up the pretense, and O'Hara's song-and-dance performances give some scenes a surprising robustness.

Given the plot's weaknesses, I doubt if this movie is worth sitting down for 90 minutes at one stretch. But I taped it off a cable channel and watched about 10 minutes at a time. Virtually every 10-minute episode featured a song or dance, a scene of intrigue, and luminous backdrops with well-staged action. Obviously a viewer must have a predisposition to pure escapism. What else is Hollywood for? Recommended on those terms.

BAGDAD (Charles Lamont, 1949) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 30 March 2009]

7 years after striking box-office gold with ARABIAN NIGHTS (1942), Universal were still milking the same exotic formula with moderate success; in fact, after the star of that film's female attraction (Maria Montez) started to wane, they called on fiery, red-headed Irish beauty Maureen O'Hara – who had already appeared in RKO's SINBAD THE SAILOR (1947; co-starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) – to fill in her shoes in BAGDAD and, later on, FLAME OF ARABY (1951; co-starring Jeff Chandler) which I have yet to catch up with. The threadbare plot line of English-educated Arab princess O'Hara seeking revenge on the leader of the "Black Robes" – for causing her father's death after letting him down in battle against a confusing number of rival Arab tribes! – is nothing to write home about but, thankfully, this is made up for by an agreeably camp attitude that permeates the whole film and makes the viewing more enjoyable than it ought to be. O'Hara makes for a fetching heroine in her Technicolored exotic attire (including one in which she seems to have a drape attached to her head gear!) and, despite her royal heritage, she even gets to belt out 3 operatic songs in a tavern and impersonate a gypsy dancer out in the desert!; villainous Turkish Pasha Vincent Price keeps slapping everybody around and, bafflingly, has his right eyelid almost completely closed the whole time!; Paul Christian (aka Paul Hubschmid of Fritz Lang's famed "Indian Epic" diptych), sporting a distracting Austrian accent, is another Arab 'misfit' prince with a chameleon-like personality that sees him being, alternately, a guest and a fugitive in Price's palace; John Sutton – whom I will soon get the chance to see in similar surroundings in the notoriously cheap Sam Katzman production of THIEF OF DAMASCUS (1952) – plays yet another Arab chieftain whom greed and ambition has not only turned into Price's partner-in-crime but also the leader of the Black Robes; renowned character actor Jeff Corey is O'Hara's ill-tempered associate, etc. Unfortunately, the video quality of the copy I landed is far from optimal (hazy and slightly washed-out) but still serviceable under the circumstances given that, due to the current international political and financial climate, the emergence of such films on legitimate DVD editions is growing remoter with each passing day! Having said that, I look forward to getting my hands on more lightweight, nostalgic stuff in the same vein in the future.

An ¨Arabian Night¨ story with the lovely O'Hara taking on a corrupt governor and several adventures

[ma-cortes · 4/10 · 22 August 2018]

It is a rousing , moving , stirring tale , though mediocre , and with action as well as thrills without much sense . And it packs a colorful photography in Technicolor , with color de Luxe . Adventure and thrilling movie and as title indicates set in Bagdad in the turbulent Oriental wars . Princess Marjan (Maureen O'Hara) , the daughter of a Bedouin wealthy , returns home from attending a college in England, and finds her father has been killed and Hassan (Paul Hubschmid or Paul Christian), the leader of a suspicious bunch known as the Black Riders , the main suspect . Leaders of the machinations against her father's people are the military governor Turkish Pasha Al Nadim (Vincent Price) who is lurking sinisterly , and a cousin (John Sutton) of a prince , as well . This is a film in which all the magic of thrilling Bagdad is shown ¿ . Lips against lips... sword against sword... in the world's fabulous city of sin! The picture of 1001 pleasures! ...1001 adventures! ...1001 delights!

Oriental adventure with all the usual ingredients , including glowing colour and distinctive photography in Cinemascope . Adventure and stirring movie set in Bagdad , including bandits , a nasty governor , gorgeous dancers , intriguing sheiks , and many other things . Maureen O'Hara gives an average acting the daughter of a sheik who swears to avenge his daddy and is soon involved the intrigue and plots between the Bedouins and the Arabs. Along the way , she dances and sings lousy songs . O'Hara managed to spring from this ridiculous camp Oriental Adventure outing to stardom . Maureen played brave females in several Adventure/Pirate movies during the 40s and 50s in Universal Pictures , similar to Yvonne DeCarlo ,in fact the latter was originally cast as Princess Marjan. However, she had recently been ill and lost a lot of weight, so much that the producers decided to replace her with Maureen O'Hara . Maureen interpreted various Muslim girls in Simbad the Sailor , Flame of Araby and Bagdad . She also performed the daughter of a powerful lord in The Black Swain , a valiant aristocrat in The Spanish Main , a feared pirate woman called Spitfire in Against All Flags and a French countess in Trípoli . Later on , in 1952 she starred At Sword point as Musketeer Athos' daughter , an untamed Australian girl in Kangaroo and finally the known Lady Godiva . There's also the ordinary good-looking , handsome partenaire , the German Paul Christian who starred a lot of adventure movies , as well . Adding a good support cast , such as : John Sutton , Jeff Corey , Frank Puglia , David Wolfe , Fritz Leiber and special mention for Vincent Price who often played baddie roles . Vincent is well , but this is an inferior vehicule for his high skills .

Colorfully produced by Robert Arthur and Universal International , being accompanied by brilliant and glimmer cinematography carried out by director of photography by Russell Metty who photographed numerous super-productions . Shooting in the ordinary locations from Alabama Hills, Lone Pine , Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park , Santa Clarita, Universal Studios backlot , Iverson Ranch , Lane, Chatsworth , Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California . Thrilling as well as moving musical score by Frank Skinner , including Oriental sounds . The motion picture was regularly directed by the prolific artisan Charles Lamont . He churned out numerous one- and two-reel comedies for various producers, including Mack Sennett and Al Christie, and began directing features in the mid-'30s. Lamont was a staple of such independent studios as Chesterfield and Republic, for whom he turned out many action, western and comedy films, but he found his niche at Universal in the late 1930s, and directed several comedies for Universal's top comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, including : Abbot and Costello meet the mummy , Abbott and Costello meet the Keystone Korps , Abbott and Costello Go to Mars , Meet Captain Kidd , Abbott and Costello meet the invisible man , Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , In the Foregn Legion , Hit the ice ; furthermore , other comedies as : Francis in the haunted house and Ma and Pa Kattle series such as : Ma and Pa Kattle on vacation , Ma and Pa Kattle in the Ozarks , Ma and Pa go to town . And he made noir cinema as : The dark hour , International crime , A shot in dark and other Oriental adventures : Salome where she danced and Flame of Araby with Maureen O'Hara again .

Glorious technicolor, Radiant Maureen O'Hara!

[oguer22656 · 7/10 · 9 March 2000]

The costumes, locations, and action make up for the thin plot in this story of a princess in search of her father's murderer. True, there are holes in the story, Maureen O'Hara as a red-haired Turkish princess takes a stretch of imagination, but the look of the film is wonderful. Vincent Price, as always, makes a menacing villian. One wishes there was more romance, however. A good time, nonetheless.

In the Maria Montez tradition

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 17 April 2005]

During the World War II years, maybe because the beginning of American involvement in the European theater was in North Africa, land of the Bedouins, movies with that exotic location became popular. Universal Pictures developed a star named Maria Montez who made a bundle for them in Arabian Nights and others.

They built these sets on the back-lot for Maria and her Arabia exotica and rather than let them go to waste, Unviersal cranked out these things set in Africa/Arabia/Near East with increasing rapidity and diminishing credibility.

Case in point Bagdad with it's leads being a redheaded colleen, a Swiss import, and a couple of classically trained actors both American and English.

Maureen O'Hara knew what garbage she was making and overacts to the hilt. Her leading man was Swiss named Paul Hubschmid who had a successful career in Europe. They billed him in America for this Arabian picture as Paul Christian. His most notable film on this side of the Atlantic was The Beast from 20,000 fathoms.

All I can say is that with his Viennese accent, Paul Christian SOUNDS as authentically Arabian as Maureen O'Hara looks with her red hair.

Vincent Price also knows he's in something his descendants would cringe at if they saw it and he overacts outrageously as the corrupt Turkish Pasha of Bagdad.

John Sutton was a fine player who was one of the slimiest villains ever put on the screen in Captain from Castile opposite Tyrone Power. Here, he like Price, knows that this Thanksgiving delicacy of a film will not be something he wants to be known for and he goes to town with scenery chewing.

This is a camp classic to beat the Boys in that Band.

Bagpipes from Baghdad.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 21 June 2015]

With a poll coming up on IMDbs Classic Film board coming up for the best titles of 1949,I started searching round for movies to view for the poll.Since having heard him get mention a number of times after the recent death of Christopher Lee,I was pleased to spot that a DVD seller had recently tracked down an Adventure film starring Vincent Price,which led to me getting ready to take a trip to Bagdad.

The plot:

Returning to Bagdad after getting educated in England, Princess Marjan discovers that her dad has been brutally killed,after a rebel tribe called The Black Robes left him in battle. Comforted by Pasha Ali Nadim,Marjan is told by Nadim that she can stay as a guest at his palace,as she tries to track down the leader of The Black Robes.As she starts looking round for the Robes leader,Marjan is shocked to find out that Nadim is the head of Bagdad's corrupt government,with Nadim having recently met the leader of The Black Robes for secret deals.Suspecting that Nadim is keeping things hidden from her,Marjan beings to take a look at the lines in the sand.

View on the film:

For the screenplay of the film,writers Tamara Hovey & Robert Hardy Andrews place Bagdad into separate tribes,who despite wearing different costumes are never clearly defined,which leads to all of the tribes being rather jumbled up.Whilst they fail to draw clear lines in the sand for the tribes,the writers make sure the movie speeds by with delightfully bonkers elements,which go from Marjan offering an Arabian take on "girl power",to The Black Robes darting across the screen like mystic ninjas.

Filmed on the studio back lot,director Charles Lamont & cinematographer Russell Metty use sweeping crane shots to fully display the vibrancy of the various tribes.Along with the smoothly- handled sweeps,Lamont cooks up a charming mythical atmosphere,thanks to Lamont splashing dazzling red,green and blues across the characters palaces and costumes,which act as the perfect contrast to the dry,sandy desert.

Twirling his beard in the opening scene (talk about subtle!) Vincent Price gives a wickedly sharp performance as boo-hiss baddie,as Price sends the movie in a completely off-road direction,by having Nadim slap anyone who offers the slightest disagreement with him,and for some unexplained reason,keeping his right eye shut for the entire movie.Delivering 3 sweet,if rather forgettable songs on the soundtrack,the very pretty Maureen O'Hara gives a terrific performance as Marjan,with O'Hara giving Marjan a feisty edge,which superbly bounces off the cartoon baddie action from Price,which makes this a magical visit to Bagdad.

One Big Hoot of a Movie

[rkbing · 9 May 2001]

A memorable film from several points. The color was terrific; the songs that Maureen O'Hara trilled had style; the costumes were overdone; the acting and dialogue, with all those "thee's" and "thou's" were unbelievable. Maureen must have been in Elizabethan England before returning to Bagdad. I really think the whole crew, including writers, must have had a hilarious time making this screwy movie. It is so bad, it is good.

Bad Script, Bad Acting, Horrible Casting, Cool Costumes

[smoltz96 · 3/10 · 2 March 1999]

Maureen O'Hara is not Iraqi and Vincent Price is not Turkish. Unfortunately, this film is based on the assumption that the viewer will believe that they are. The considerable talents of these two actors were wasted on a half-baked period piece with virtually no plot. Those small remnants of a story that existed were rather hard to follow. The only saving graces of this film are its luscious costumes and scenery, and they aren't nearly good enough to make the film worth sitting through.

Glorious technicolor, Radiant Maureen O'Hara!

[oguer22656 · 7/10 · 9 March 2000]

The costumes, locations, and action make up for the thin plot in this story of a princess in search of her father's murderer. True, there are holes in the story, Maureen O'Hara as a red-haired Turkish princess takes a stretch of imagination, but the look of the film is wonderful. Vincent Price, as always, makes a menacing villain. One wishes there was more romance, however. A good time, nonetheless.

One of Those Films You Can't Believe

[ragosaal · 3/10 · 22 October 2006]

"Bagdadª is a terrible adventure film. Actually it doesn't catch your attention at all. The point is that not even kids who usually enjoy this sort of colorful desert action pieces, could be satisfied with this one. In fact you don't even care about how things will come out (tough you can guess easily).

You also wonder how a respected actress like Maureen O'Hara could ever enter this thing; in fact if she wasn't in this film there would be definitely nothing to see (my 3 points rank are just for her undeniable beauty). Vincent Price enjoys himself as the villain but he doesn't add much to his brilliant gallery here.

Just if you want to see gorgeous Maureen singing and dancing the arab way.

Absolutely Fabulous; Golden Dreams of Bagdad in Technicolor Polyester

[NYLux · 10/10 · 18 August 2009]

After the success of "Sinbad the Sailor" Maureen O'Hara was ready to play another princess of Arabia in 49 and along came this story of Bagdad that suited her perfectly. She plays Princess Marjan of the Beduins but there is nothing tribal about her. The first time we see her she is dressed like an English Victorian lady riding in the desert with an overdressed Vincent Price as Pacha Ali Nadim, who is of course the EVIL character that slaps all his subordinates on a regular basis and protects the Black raiders, a bandit club that is as endemic to these movies as the absurd amounts of early polyester silks and gilt-costume jewelry on the women, always covered by perfectly transparent veils.

Princess Marjan has been studying in London, though we are never told what. When she arrives at the caravansary, the man in charge assumes she is English, but she tells him she is an Arabian Princess, you can't blame the man, her flowing mane of red hair is not particularly an Arabian trait and neither is her ivory skin. She proceeds to go on a shopping spree for native garb, which is Hollywood interpretations of what they thought Arabian women should wear, and translates as a Maureen, because there is no other way to describe the costume: weird shoulder treatments, occasionally with flounces, sometimes attached to an impossibly small vest, heavily embroidered, sometimes to a camisole that at the waist flairs into a half- train or baggy pants, sometimes both. The total effect is sometimes late Renaissance as interpreted by cookie boxes that have a medallion with a 'lady' from 'Verona' or 'Florence' but are more readily found in real life at wedding receptions in Newark.

Princess Marjan is trying to put her tribe back on its feet after her father's assassination, she is trying to talk to the Emir, persuade the Pasha, and seduce a handsome Prince who one minute is a camel driver and the next a rich merchant from Cairo spewing precious stones at her dinner table on a horrid night that the Pasha imposes himself on her to have dinner at the one and only Western cuisine restaurant in Bagdad, "I Franghi" (or something like that). The restaurant has entertainment also, which consists of dancing girls. This gives Princess Marjan the brilliant idea of adding extra income to her enterprise by singing in this place which is a concoction of all the 'elegant French restaurants" outside of Paris by way of Wyoming. No sooner was this flash of genius stricken than she glides from the table like a panther in love and sashays around the place singing ballads. This is the best moment of the film, and it could go on Broadway anytime as a revival with a few extra tunes. She has an amazingly good Broadway voice and when she stops you want to hear another one. You will, but it will take a while.

The plot thickens with so many useless details I can not record them accurately, except that at one point Princess Marjan appears dressed in gypsy garb with her friends at the enemy camp and the movie hits another high point. This Princess can look like a sassy gypsy, tell a fortune with grace flashing that ultra-Colgate smile that probably introduced toothpaste to the Bedouins right there, poison a soup, flirt at a battalion of women-hungry Arabs and she still goes away unscathed and virginal, ready for her close-up with her hero-prince and a happy ending. Now that's ENTERTAINMENT. This movie can also team up with either "Sinbad the Sailor" (1947) or "Flame of Araby" (1951) for an excellent double feature that will leave you floating in your own magic carpet of Arabian Technicolor dreams.

A turkey brought successfully to table!

[bbhlthph · 6/10 · 18 November 2007]

Bagdad is a Hollywood B movie from the 1940's that was given an unusually generous budget which covered its production in Technicolor as well as the services of three actors already recognised as stars, Vincent Price, Maureen O'Hara and John Sutton. This presumably indicates the Studio bosses who approved production felt they had a better than average script, capable of generating a very successful movie. More realistically, the script was the turkey that prevented real success and with less generous budgetary decisions it would have sunk without trace within a few months of its release.

Four extant IMDb User Comments on this film point out that Maureen O'Hara did not look like a Turkish Princess, an Arabian, an Iraqi, or a Bedouin Arab. These commentators were right in all four cases, she looked like the pale skin, redheaded Caucasian beauty she actually was. But two interesting observations follow - firstly the story in this film was so confused that, even among the relatively few comments already on this database, her character has been assigned four different nationalities; and secondly it seems strange the production budget could not even cover the cost of darkening her hair and skin (or that of co-stars Vincent Price , Paul Christian and John Sutton) - surely a minimal demand for the make-up department. Such discrepancies abound throughout this film and rob it of any validity as a serious work. Its setting is the pre-World War I Ottoman empire, but the language is (erratically) similar to the high society English of the early Georgian period and does not match the story any better than the makeup. The stars all appear to have been well aware of these deficiencies and, recognising that the film would almost certainly finish up being classified as a turkey, they decided not to attempt to compensate for them, but instead to overact outrageously -chewing up the scenery in grand style so that a fun time could be had by all. This type of film usually disappears quickly and totally soon after its release; instead Bagdad is still with us (both as a VHS tape and periodically on cable television) because they did this so effectively that, once we have accepted exactly what is being presented, we can still settle down and have a lot of fun watching it once in a while.

It has been said this was Maureen O'Hara first real starring role. Most of her fans would not accept this, but it was one that provided her with an exceptional opportunity which she seized with both hands and feet. Not only beautiful but active and athletically graceful, she is a pleasure to watch. Her fiery temperament only adds to the fun, and watching her outwit all her very threatening adversaries probably appeals to most children of all ages. Vincent Price, as the deadliest of these, plays up to her as only he can. Overall this may not be the most convincing recipe for creating a collectible film, but after accepting its limitations (and with appropriate acknowledgments to some excellent work behind the camera) I must recognise that in this instance it appears to have largely succeeded. For me, a VCD of 'Bagdad' remains a minor but still enjoyable part of my home video collection, even though NOT to be found among my historical films.

It is about something

[Apollo15AnnoPianoCatDogSnailAnt · 4/10 · 17 November 2020]

Notable is the mideastern decor. The plot is things are definitely happening level of interest and things move from one scene to the next. The level of quality remains, does not dip. Something about more intrigue, about a lady seeking vengeance, a routine plot point, while people just like wearing turbans, fezzes, and cloaks.

Only if you want to hear her sing

[HotToastyRag · 5/10 · 6 September 2023]

Lots of people don't know that Maureen O'Hara could sing. In fact, she had a beautiful soprano voice. There was no reason why she wasn't cast in The King and I or any other musical. If you want to hear her sing, you can look up some of her live performances online, or you can find the unknown old flick Bagdad.

The story and casting of Miss O'Hara makes no sense, but if you like Technicolor flicks set in the Arabian desert, you probably won't care. She plays an Arabian princess (yes, I know, with flaming red hair) who has been educated in England and is therefore more "civilized" than the other people in her village. However, when her father gets murdered, she forgets her European education and vows to get revenge. Along the way, she gets involved in a love triangle (because when you're avenging the murder of your father while trying to do your royal duty, you have time to date two men) between Vincent Price and Paul Christian. In the great Hollywood tradition, everyone in the cast is as white as they come, but some of them are made up to look Middle Eastern. Jeff Corey, Frank Puglia, Fritz Leiber, and John Sutton are certainly not from Bagdad. The costumes seem a bit silly, but no one will probably pay attention to them once they see Maureen show off her figure in her intricate outfits. This movie is for fans of hers, but not really for anyone else.

Stand tall

[unbrokenmetal · 7/10 · 16 July 2009]

Arabian princess (redhead Maureen O'Hara indeed!) wants to avenge her father's death. He was killed by the Black Robes whose leader is unknown. She asks the Pasha (Vincent Price) for help and offers in turn to sing for him. I didn't like the singing as much as he did, apparently, but my favorite moment of the movie is when she fails to lure the main suspect Hassan (Swiss born Paul Hubschmid of "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" fame) into a trap. Vincent Price looks at her and says: "You're angry and annoyed. This gives rise to a very interesting question. Is it due to your unsatisfied desire for revenge on a blood-enemy, or only injured vanity because a man's instinct for danger blinded him to your undeniable charms?" Price could deliver mocking lines like that deliciously, it is always a pleasure to watch him. Anyhow, Paul Hubschmid stands tall (one head taller than everyone else except Price, that is) and claims his innocence. A trial in front of the tribes' leaders shall decide about that...

An Oriental fantasy film in glorious Technicolor that celebrates every blue, red and green the camera can get hold of. "Bagdad" doesn't look real for a second with those carnival costumes and false beards, but it was fun all the way to me - 80 minutes is just the right length for a not-so-serious adventure.

"When you find him, kill him."

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 1 March 2021]

That's all you need to know about Vincent Price's character of the pasha in this colorful but silly adventure. In its favor, it features a gorgeous and spectacularly dressed Maureen O'Hara and the Swiss born Paul Hubschmid (last name changed to Christian in the credits) as the Arab hero standing up to Price to protect her, with John Sutton also adding dark make-up to play another Arab heavy.

As for the story, it's another variation of "The Desert Song" minus Sigmund Romberg's glorious music but featuring a few songs performed by O'Hara. Why she never played Anna in "The King and I" on stage is perplexing. Of course, there's the obligatory dance sequence, just one of many cliches you'll encounter in this.

This is fun simply to just watch for the campy dialog, ridiculous miscasting and Price's hideous beard. It's obvious that Universal reused the sets and costumes, just adding color to make everything seem fresh. Everyone seems to be having a good time subtly parodying the burlesque style plot that had me singing the opening lines to "Not Since Ninevah" from "Kismet" the moment it started.

Bagdad

[coltras35 · 5/10 · 1 January 2024]

An Arab sheik's daughter (Maureen O'Hara) avenges his death, blamed on Hassan (Paul Christian) and his Black Riders.

Maureen O'Hara in Technicolor, great sets and some intrigue, Bagdad is watchable, however there's not much action and the focus is on mental games, hence it's talky. A lot of things happen but it doesn't really drive the pace. O'Hara makes for a fetching heroine, Vincent Price is at his usual slimy best who likes slapping people and hates Bedouins and Paul Christian (aka Paul Hubschmid), is a Arab 'misfit' prince with a chameleon-like personality who must use all his talents to remain alive. It's not bad, has watchable qualities, very much wonderful look at with its colour and designs, but also has it's setbacks.

O'Hara of Arabia

[wes-connors · 2/10 · 17 August 2007]

Unintentionally funny story with Maureen O'Hara as an Arab princess avenging the death of her father.

She sings! She dances! She battles the evil "Black Robes". Ms. O'Hara's possible knowledge of this movie's low worth may have enhanced her ludicrous performance. Vincent Price can always be depended on for an outrageous performance in an absurd film, but the hammy master is no match for O'Hara. Not a complete waste, as O'Hara and her leading man look lovely. It's got some action, and swell color. If everyone was as hammy as the leads, it might have been funnier - with more singing and dancing.

** Bagdad (1949) Charles Lamont ~ Maureen O'Hara, Paul Hubschmid, Vincent Price

Bagdad adventure

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8 January 2023]

This time it is not an Universal Studios colorful exotic adventure from the late forties starring Maria Montez and Jon Hall, but Maureen O'Hara and Vincent Price as an exquisite traitor; how could it be else? But seeing Maureen O'Hara - the Scarlet O'Hara of Hollywood - in an Arab prince's daughter, well, it adds to the charm of this totally unbelievable and incredible tale...The flaming Irish red headed star can not look like an Arab woman in anyway, unlike Maria Montez or Yvonne De Carlo - but with lost of make up for those two.... So, for once I think there was a midcast in this agreeable little feature, which the topic is so predictable. But beware, despite the title, it is not a One Thousand and One Nights story, but a more or less modern adventure feature. Maureen O'Hara will also play with Charles Lamont in FLAME OF ARABY. Same kind of film too.