Kismet (1955) User Reviews (46)

Soft Simmering Breeze...Petals in the pool drifting....

[theowinthrop · 7/10 · 23 June 2006]

KISMET was originally a play by Edward Knobloch written about 1910, and used as a vehicle for many years by the popular Broadway character actor Otis Skinner, playing the role of Hajj, the philosophical thief who saves the Caliph of Baghdad. Skinner even did a silent film version of the play. Two years after his death in 1942 a sound version of the film (in color) was made starring Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, and Edward Arnold. The movie was a success, but nobody realized it would shortly become extremely successful in a new way. A song writing team (Bob Wright and Chet Forrest) constructed a score for KISMET based on the melodies of Alexander Borodin. The score contained such songs that became standards as STRANGER IN PARADISE (from the "Polevetsian Dances" in the opera PRINCE IGOR), BAUBLES, BANGLES, and BEADS, THIS IS MY BELOVED, THIS WAS THE NIGHT OF MY LIFE, and others. Wright and Forrest would do this several times on Broadway (they composed reset themes by Heitor Villa Lobos in another musical, for example) but KISMET was their joint masterpiece. So successful were they at rejuvenating the old Knobloch play, it was eventually revived again in the late 1990s in a new form as TIMBUCTOO (reset from the Califate of Baghdad to the great African trade city).

Eventually the musical came to the attention to the Freed unit at MGM, and Vincent Minelli was chosen to direct this 1955 version. The musical expanded on the play a little. Howard Keel (as Hajj - the name was restored to the original one, not Hafiz as Ronald Colman was named in the 1944 version) is involved at the beginning with Jay C. Flippen as a violent bandit leader who is seeking his son, and whom Hajj suggests will be found in Baghdad. We see Flippen from time to time looking for his missing son. In the end he does find the son (who lives up or down to Flippen's own reputation).

Keel had the right voice for Hajj, as did Dolores Gray as Lalume, the Vizier's bored wife (Dietrich in the 1944 film). Ann Blyth played Hajj's daughter Marsinah (who falls for the Caliph, Vic Damone). The evil vizier was played by Sebastian Cabot, and his rival government figure Omar (played by Harry Davenport in the 1944 film) is now played by Monty Wooley, in his final major movie part.

Actually the musical is livelier than it's critical history suggests. The old creaky play may turn off many critics, but it had some color, and the Borodin-inspired melodies raised it. But like BRIGADOON, Minelli could not shoot the film on location as it would have been incredibly expensive. Possibly the studio sets may have effected how the film was received by the critics. But it is entertaining, and (because of the music) very memorable. If some numbers were cut most of the big numbers were saved. Besides, I'd rather hear Keel sing A FOOL SAT BENEATH AN OLIVE TREE than hear Cabot (a questionable singing talent) try WAS I VIZIR. I don't think Sebastian Cabot even tried to sing once on FAMILY AFFAIR...his was a distinguished speaking voice, not a singing one.

Harum Scarum

[ptb-8 · 7/10 · 23 February 2004]

Thanks to the mega surprise success of SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, and the income of $7m in rentals (wow!) MGM lurched into a series of 'robust' macho musicals: ATHENA, ROSE MARIE, HIT THE DECK, and the best of all: IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER. KISMET today, 50 years later, it is best enjoyed knowing it came from that mindset and is a product of a lavish budget itself: $2.6m. Like all those above it made money, but only just. In 2004 it is the production values and the music/dancing that is sensational and compared to modern film production quality is positively a masterpiece. I am sure even Madonna has seen this because the Market Place dance number is certainly recycled into her music video imagery. Dolores Gray is suitably brassy and the absolutely awesome NIGHT OF MY NIGHTS number with Vic Damone is one of the most visually enchanting set pieces committed to film ever. Try and see it in cinema scope, as pan/scan TV prints cut the sides off and the impressive visuals are crippled. It's quite rude too.

Underestimated

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 14 August 2013]

While not up there with the classic film musicals, Kismet is one of the underrated ones. The complaints that some have for the film are understandable, the script apart from some deliciously witty moments(mainly from Keel and Gray) is somewhat weak and is swamped by everything else, Vincente Minelli's direction at times is cold and hasty- which comes through loud and clear in Gesticulate, very indifferently directed and the weakest song in the film too- and while youthful and suave Vic Damone is rather bland as an actor. There is much to recommend though. The production values are the very meaning of lavish and look gorgeous, the locations and photography are very exotic and who cannot love Delores Gray's outfits. The choreography is spirited and seductive as well as clever and generally tasteful(Not Since Ninevah stands out), and the story is charming enough, a little silly but hardly a bore. There are no complaints to be had with the songs and score, the score is lush and the songs, based on the music of Borodin with clever lyrics, apart from Gesticulate are wonderful. Stranger in Paradise, And This is My Beloved, The Olive Tree and Baubles, Bangles and Beads are the highlights, though Night of My Nights is also lovely. It is a shame about the absence of Was I Wazir? though, though you can sort of understand why it was omitted. The cast are good, Dolores Gray steals the show as a deliciously sultry Lalume, Rahadlakum is a show-stopper. Howard Keel clearly is having the time of his life in his role as Hajj, if at times playing it a little too on the broad side, his beautiful rich voice still sounds great and is one of those voices that is difficult to be tired of. Ann Blyth is too old but is still utterly beguiling and sings beautifully, especially in Baubles, Bangles and Beads and And This is My Beloved. Sebastian Cabot is wonderfully wicked with a touch of buffoonery, though I've always preferred his more distinguished style of acting. All in all, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but well worth seeing, especially for the production values, the songs, Keel and Gray. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The Most Under Rated Movie Musical of All Time

[darkinvader45210 · 2 March 2004]

It's hard for me to believe that I saw many of these old M.G.M. musicals when they first came out when I was a teenager. I first saw Kismet with my cousin and sister in Jackson, Mississippi, and we loved it! I don't like repeating myself, but just because a Broadway star is in a hit musical on Broadway doesn't necessarily mean that they are good movie material. They just don't have the following in the movies to support a movie such as movies like Kismet, Hello Dolly, Gypsy, and Kiss Me, Kate which is considered a better movie than it was a Broadway show.

Kismet is glorious entertainment. Howard Keel is perfect as Hajj the Beggar and even though Ann Blyth was too old to be his daughter, you forgive that problem in casting. She never sang better and Vic Damone was great as the Prince. Thankfully, the songs "He's in Love" and "Was I Wazir" was cut from the film, but sadly, even though it was recorded and filmed "Rhymes Have I" was deleted from the movie. This should not have been. Maybe, some day, someone will restore this number in future Videos of Kismet.

You could not have cast anyone better than Delores Gray as Lalume, and the addition of her song "Bored" [not in the original play on Broadway] shows you don't have to be naked and obscene on the screen to get sex across to the audience as she sings her song and nearly seduces Howard Keel right on the spot, and could that woman sing!

The wonderful thing about this movie is that a Broadway orchestra can't bring out the wonderful music as it is really meant to be heard like a movie orchestra can. For the first time you hear all the music in its richest melodies and Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone, and Delores Gray are thousands time better in their performances than the broadway cast could ever be. "And This is My Beloved" is a much better version in the movie than the Broadway rendition which was much too operatic.

I remember that my cousin Margaret looked at me after Howard Keel sang "The Olive Tree" and she said that if her father ever looked at her the way Howard Keel looked at Ann Blyth, she'd run like hell. Let's face it! Any Blyth was old enough to be his lover and not his daughter, but you forgive the producers for the miscast, because as a whole the film is not miscast, but perfect!

It's just a shame that these films can't be seen on the large theater screens today with stereophonic sound the way they "should" be seen. Maybe, someday, someone will get the hint!

Kismet was and is glorious, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

A lavish, beautiful bore worth enduring for three ravishing songs!

[sdiner82 · 6/10 · 15 July 2001]

I saw the original Broadway production of "Kismet" when I was 8 years old and, despite that fact that it was a smash-hit, found it excruciating to sit through with the exception of three ravishing ballads that became instant classics. The inevitable MGM film version came out three years later and was more of the same. Don't blame Vincente Minnelli for not wanting to direct it. The Arabian Nights plotline is unplayable and unwatchable (try the Colman-Dietrich 1944 version WITHOUT music--pure torture though a Technicolored eyeful). All that said, the 1955 version is still a must for movie-musical-lovers for the splendidly sung and staged renditions of "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" (Ann Blyth's finest four minutes--she is visually and vocally dazzling), Ms. Blyth and Vic Damone gorgeously dueting on "Stranger in Paradise", and the haunting "And This is My Beloved" (unfortunately given short shrift but still a vocal knockout thanks to Ms. Blyth (again!), Howard Keel and Vic Damone. A pity the rest of the film couldn't match these three outstanding highlights! Fate has never smiled upon any of the stage or film versions of "Kismet"!

Very entertaining musical that isn't watched anymore

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 8 February 2018]

Those of you who know me know that the musical is one of my favorite film genres. I bought the obscure film The French Line sight unseen because I'd heard one cute song from it, and once I watched Guys and Dolls twice in a week. I don't know why it took me so long to finally watch the film version of Kismet, but I only saw it for the first time a few months ago.

Howard Keel, in the lead role as a glib poet able to talk-or sing-his way out of any predicament, is really incredible. He performs the show-stopping number "Gesticulate" as only he could: stylized, over-the-top but still accessible, and with charm but without conceit. He carries the movie, outclassing his costars by head and shoulders, but since he's in so much of the film, it doesn't really matter that the scenes he's not in drag a little.Ann Blyth, Howard's daughter, is very pretty but she's given a bland and uninteresting romantic partner in Vic Damone. If your favorite songs in Kismet are the ballads "Stranger in Paradise" and "This Is My Beloved," you'll be severely disappointed in Vic's voice type. If you don't really care about two young kids in love and prefer more upbeat tunes, you'll be fine, since Howard Keel and Dolores Gray sparkle with chemistry.

Don't laugh, but my favorite song in the show was Dolores Gray's dazzling number "Not Since Nineveh". The reason this musical isn't watched or performed anymore is because you just can't give rousing applause to a song that starts with the line "Baghdad! Don't under-estimate Baghad!" However, if you're able to put foreign affairs aside-which is essential if you're going to sit down and watch Kismet-Dolores's song is fantastic. She's beautiful and has a stunning figure, clad in inventive costumes by Tony Duquette, and she has a very nice alto voice that sells a song beautifully. Between her and Howard, it's easy to forget anyone else is even in the movie!

For musical aficionados, you should probably check out Kismet if you haven't already. You'll hear some beautiful singing-not by Vic Damone, though-and watch some incredible dancing by Reiko Sato, Patricia Dunn, and Wonci Lui. Plus, the story is very fast-paced, clever, and entertaining, a feature not always included in a musical comedy. Even without the songs, it would still be an interesting movie.

Appointment in Baghdad.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 17 August 2013]

We find Howard Keel and his daughter, Ann Blythe, in some whimsical Arabian fairyland. Keel is a near beggar who sells poems for a living. Some of the dialog is pretty witty. The whole screen play is full of keen lines. The plot is about mistaken identities and barely avoided executions and other nonsense, and Keel winds up terribly rich and accompanied by his enemy's lusty widow. Ann Blythe winds up married to Vic Damone, the all powerful Caliph.

It's colorful, fast, tuneful, and often amusing. I don't know why it doesn't show up more often among the lists of favorite MGM musicals or something. Maybe what it needs is a little injection of Terpsichoreate from time to time. There is some uninspired ensemble dancing and that's it. It's easy to imagine one of the great dancers in MGM's stable in a supporting role: not Gene Kelly, of course, but Tommy Rall or Jacques D'Amboise. Either of them could have pepped up the choreography too, which is repetitious and a little bizarre.

Keel does okay in the role of the quick-witted and fast-talking pawn of fate who is thrown from one state to another. His baritone is user-friendly and the lyrics are unusually sophisticated for what is basically a musical comedy. The evil Wazir is about to have Keel's hand chopped off for theft and Keel sings a love song to his hand, something along the lines of "how can I make a fist there, when there's nothing but the hint of a wrist there?" Hint of a wrist there? The lyrics approach those of Cole Porter and Noel Coward.

You can't fault Ann Blythe's supreme soprano either. She reaches notes that would shatter glass for a mile around. Only Vic Damone sounds like he belongs on a period juke box.

At least two or three of the songs became hits on that juke box, "Stranger in Paradise" was one. It's difficult for a viewer to understand just how complicated it is to arrange a musical that has so many melodies and choral passages in it. I was in a college production of "Kismet" and found the numbers tuneful and intricate, full of counterpoint and unexpected melodic intrusions. I was only a beggar but the part was demanding. Did you ever try wrapping a turban around your head? No. I thought as much. It was a small role but as a beggar I was peerless, convincing -- nonpareil. A great beggar. I still am.

Maybe another reason why "Kismet" isn't so popular is that it draws its tunes from the works of Alexander Borodin. He was a good composer, considering that he was a chemist or something. But he wrote music that could be turned into POP SONGS. You can imagine how that made the cognoscente feel about Borodin. Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett on that damned juke box again, and, who knows, Lefty Frizell. Ask the music critic for the New York Times what he thinks of Borodin -- or Tchaikovsky ("Tonight We Love") or Rachmaninoff ("Full Moon and Empty Arms") and see what answer you get.

Snobs, all of them. And I'll bet they never pay any attention to the colorful beggars either, no matter how magnificent the beggars' performances.

A Shadow of the Broadway Show.

[suessis · 3/10 · 9 November 2005]

In the 1950's, my late father was a businessman who traveled to New York and took in Broadway shows whenever he could. One night, he went to the box office at the Ziegfield Theatre and managed to land himself a great seat for a hit musical. What happened that night would become a legend in my family. Dad fell in love with "Kismet" and for the rest of his life he would torture us by telling the story of the production and playing the original cast album (and the recording of the subsequent Lincoln Center revival) over and over and over and over...

As an adult now, I can appreciate this work. My father was deeply disappointed by this film version and now having seen it I can understand why. As the book of this musical is pure cotton candy fluff, the key to success with any production of this material is how the music is arranged and presented. The singers should be classically trained and the individual playing Hajj needs to be a strong actor with an ability to truly interpret the lyrics.

After having seen Keel in "Kiss Me Kate", I had high hopes before my viewing of this film that he would be able to pull it off. Unfortunately, he only proved that Alfred Drake owns this role in the same way that Richard Kiley will always be "The Man of LaMancha" and Yul Brynner the "King". Keel's portrayal of the character is at best second rate.

Part of his problem (and indeed the problem of other performers in the film) might be the less than adequate arrangements of the music as well as the mangling that was done of some the lyrics and the removal of whole songs. Noticablly missing is the classic "Was I Wasir?" the very clever if gruesome show stopper craftily performed in the original stage show by Henry Calvin.

What really is worth seeing (or perhaps it would be better to say worth hearing) are the sequences with Ann Blyth and Vic Damone who had some of the best voices in film at that time. Damone actually gives Richard Kiley (who was the Caliph in the original Broadway cast) a run for his money in with the performance of "The Night of my Nights". Blyth has a beautiful voice and gives a creditable performance in the face of a hard act to follow in Doretta Marrow, the B-Way Marsinah.

The hardest loss in this production is the beautiful cacophony of voices that was the hallmark of the Broadway show. Instead you get a canned studio chorus that was best left in the can.

I am sorry that the one film version of this delightful Arabian Night tale is such a disappointment.

Songwriting Doesn't Get Better Than This

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 2 July 2009]

Given the times we're in and the changing public tastes in music, I'm not sure how well a revival of Kismet as a Broadway show would do today. Certainly the music of Alexander Borodin remains timeless, but a show with an Arabian Nights setting, I'm not sure would go over so well right now.

The Broadway show with Alfred Drake, Doretta Morrow, Richard Kiley, and Joan Diener ran for 583 performances in the 1953-54 season and won a Tony Award. As none of those worthy performers were movie names, Arthur Freed recast the film with MGM players Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone, and Dolores Gray and I've sure got no complaints about any one of them.

But Kismet has an older an more varied history. It was first presented on Broadway as a straight dramatic play in 1911, written by Edward Knoblauch and providing a career role as Hajj the beggar king for Otis Skinner. He must have done the role a gazillion times on Broadway and in touring companies.

Skinner even did two films, a silent and early sound version that I believe are both lost. It then got a film version with Ronald Colman as Hajj and it co-starred Marlene Dietrich, James Craig and Joy Page. Colman spoke the lines in the inimitable Colman fashion, but the music score that Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg wrote was singularly bland.

Nothing bland about the themes of Alexander Borodin which Robert Wright and Chet Forrest arranged and wrote lyrics for to provide a far better musical score. Two songs, Strangers In Paradise and Baubles Bangles And Beads were chart toppers in the first half of the Fifties. I well remember as a child hearing both played on the radio a lot.

The plot of the story centers around the nimble tongued Keel as Hajj who gets himself involved in palace politics with the Wazir/Prime Minister of the old Caliphate of Bagdad played by Sebastian Cabot and his wife Dolores Gray who's taken a real fancy to Keel. At the same time the Caliph on one of his nocturnal wanderings of legend has fallen for Keel's daughter Ann Blyth. The Caliph is played by Vic Damone. Both plot elements come together for an inevitable conclusion which I think you can figure out.

Vincente Minnelli did a great directing this old chestnut, impeccably cast with great musical performers. Songwriting because of who inspired it, doesn't get any better than this.

Way too americanized

[xlars · 6/10 · 15 January 2004]

How come all american portrayals of Arab stories are so extremely, heavily romanticized? Can't Arabs do anything wrong? This is a terrible, terrible, terrible, hyper-romanticized telling of a useless story. Don't see it.

More like a 1929 musical than a 1955 one...

[ChorusGirl · 4/10 · 23 February 2009]

One of the last big MGM musicals, and who expected they would return to the 1929 early talkie format?...nail the camera to a seat in the 10th row, have people stand around and talk--and then move over here and talk some more, don't edit out anything no matter superfluous or expendable it is, let everyone give hammy Vaudeville performances, and stage completely static musical numbers (there's even a pageant...like out of an old Ziegfeld show). It's as though there had been NO advances in film-making in the previous 20 years.

On the upside...the score is excellent, and if you rent the 2008 DVD (contained in "Musicals from The Dream Factory Vol 3"), you will get a sense of what real, movie palace stereo used to sound like. Also, like most early Cinemascope movies, it is super duper wide, which is always thrilling to look at on a widescreen TV (even if the subject matter is as anemic as this). Note the gaudy costumes...designed by none other than Tony Duquette, the famed interior designer.

This musical is so underrated!

[inyourimage · 9/10 · 29 May 2009]

If you want a classic movie that is exotic, romantic and even hypnotic, Kismet fits the bill. Set in ancient Baghdad, Kismet gives us a much different perspective than we have today (even if it is a movie set). First and foremost, it gives us that classic duet, 'Stranger in Paradise.' Second, it stars Howard Keel. Third, the romanticized Arabesque cinematography is superb. A 50's-style romantic 'Arabian Nights' setting sets the stage for a comedic/dramatic romance/love story in the tradition of ancient fable akin to Alladin and the Magic Lamp. Even the fact that almost everyone in the movie is a white person painted dark gives it a bygone sentimental appeal. I wish this movie were more available, particularly on DVD. It represents Howard Keel at his best in a role that is a departure from his usual venue.

One of Howard Keel's best

[Throndinalkar · 7/10 · 8 June 2006]

Back in the 70's, Eartha Kitt, Melba Moore and a young Obba Babatunde among others, starred on Broadway, in a lavish all black adaptation of Kismet. It was called Timbuktu. I enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, it seems as though there is no film record of this glorious adaptation. So I will have to carry it's memory around in my heart.

It wasn't until the early 80's that I managed to catch Kismet on late night TV. Despite the fact that I saw them in reverse order, Kismet did come first. And although my perception of it's charms are colored by my prior exposure to Timbuktu, I must say that Howard Keel and his fellow cast members deliver outstanding performances.

I highly recommend it.

Fated To Be Rated/Slated

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 28 May 2014]

On paper this is a great cast but on screen it doesn't work because no two cast members seem to be working in the same film. The best voice by a country mile is that of Dolores Gray but it is diametrically opposed to that of Ann Blyth and we can only be glad they had no numbers together, Similarly Howard Keel and Vic Damone are equally poles apart. The last place one expects to find Ted de Corsia is in Baghdad and so on. We're talking serious mish-mosh here and three 'standards' - Baubles, Bangles and Beads, And This Is My Beloved, Stranger In Paradise - are not really enough to save it and, if it comes to that, they're not necessarily the best songs in the film. Vincente Minnelli directs as if he were determined to make something more insipid than Brigadoon and totally erase the charm of Meet Me In St Louis from the memory-banks of cinema-goers everywhere. Well worth missing.

This is a much better version of KISMET than the VHS

[[e-mail] · 10 April 2008]

Apparently some of the disgust a handful of readers have been feeling about this movie is due to the fact that they have the old VHS version. The new DVD version restores the original theatrical ratio, and the result is simply stunning: the movie is much clearer that it was in the full screen form, and restores the more lavish numbers to their full glory - there are more extras in there than anyone who has seen the original VHS version realizes; it's not a very small cast at all! True, the original finale is replaced by Howard Keel's version of "The Sands Of Time," the song that opened and closed the original Broadway musical, but that hardly matters. I have seen scenes from the VHS version on GOOGLE Video, and they are faded and grainy, while the DVD version is bright and colorful - you MUST watch it.

Larger Than Life Keel, Colorless Damone Lead Kismet

[dglink · 6/10 · 1 April 2017]

A successful Broadway musical that opened in 1953 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical, "Kismet" was brought to the screen by MGM under the guidance of producer Arthur Freed and director Vincente Minnelli. Despite those gilded credentials, the film is a mixed bag that flies high when Howard Keel sings, and plummets when Vic Damone is on screen. Keel has a strong baritone voice that, coupled with a physique and screen presence to match, enhanced such great musicals as "Show Boat," "Kiss Me Kate," and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." If a younger Keel had been cast as the Caliph in this film, his rendition of "Stranger in Paradise" alone would have rocked the theaters. However, cast as Hajj, Keel has lesser songs, and, while he gets a girl, he does not get the girl. Although Vic Damone had a successful recording career, his on-screen presence is pallid, and his voice, while good, fails to match Keel's by any measure. As the Caliph, Damone is a wimpy colorless ruler.

Beyond the two male leads, Anne Blyth appears as Marsinah, Hajj's daughter, and Dolores Gray plays Lalume, the Wazir's wife. Both are adequate, but Gray displays her extensive musical experience, although her broad performance is better suited to stage than screen. Set in a never-never land called Baghdad, which should not be confused with the capital of Iraq, the slight predictable storyline involves a young caliph seeking a wife, a strolling inventor of rhymes, the rhymer's lovely daughter, a power-hungry wazir, and the wazir's neglected wife. While admittedly derived from a stage production, the on-screen silliness plays against obviously fake backdrops derived from some production designer's fantasies. Perhaps the art director over-indulged in curry, kebabs, and hummus, then fell asleep reading "The Arabian Nights." The sets are garish and flimsy, and the costumes are equally gaudy. However, cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg captures all the vibrant color, which is undeniably eye catching, and Andre Previn adapted the fine Broadway score, based on melodies by Alexandr Borodin.

Unfortunately, the skilled hands of Freed, Minnelli, Ruttenberg, Previn, and Keel could not lift "Kismet" above a second-tier MGM musical. Despite some memorable songs, energetic choreography by Jack Cole, and a bold brash performance by Howard Keel, the film can be tough going at times. What should have soared, instead lumbers. Movie musicals petered out in the years after "Kismet," and, while this adaptation did not hammer in the last nails, it did not help either. However, for MGM musical completists and fans of Howard Keel, "Kismet" is essential viewing; for others, passable entertainment at best.

Just not very good

[Tommy-92 · 4/10 · 20 September 1999]

Some okay songs and the somewhat sexy presence of Dolores Gray add some interest to but cannot save this uninspired bore of a film. For the most part, there's a wall between it and the audience, especially where Howard Keel is concerned. His wild, over-the-top portrayal of the poet enticed nothing but yawns from me, so I could hardly be expected to be happy for him in the end. Actually, he came across as rather selfish... but that would be giving away the ending, wouldn't it? Perhaps the Broadway musical and the 30's film version of this story with Marlene Dietrich are better, as I've heard. I only know that this film just wasn't very good.

Superb Color, Intriguing Plot; and the Most Beautiful Music of Any Musical

[silverscreen888 · 8/10 · 26 July 2005]

This is musically the most glorious Broadway show of them all. in my judgment; and the most opulent of all filmed musicals in its sound, lyrics and colorful presentation. Of course, it might have been made differently, or better, or smaller or larger. But I am personally glad, as its biggest fan, and as writer, singer, songwriter, critic and moviegoer, that the film was made as honestly as it was. To begin with, the cast is vocally (unarguably) very fine; the two songs omitted, "Was I Wazir" and "He's in Love" were stage songs, without movement and needed omitting. The direction by Vincente Minnelli is very solid and generally fine, the use of color unprecedented. And this film has Howard Keel's best movie role ever, Ann Blyth lovely and seemingly young as his daughter, Sebastian Cabot as the wicked Wazir, Jay C. Flippen as his bandit father, suggestively sexy Dolores Gray as Lalume, and Vic Damone as the lovestruck very-young Caliph. The film's story-line follows the revived stage-play which was adapted to musical purposes in the early 1950s, for Broadway. The main storyline involves an ingenious but penniless poet, a maker of rhymes, who has a daughter; she wants a better life, he wants a better life for her. He finds gold, which a famous bandit claims as his own; but the gold buys him instant wealth; his arrest because he cannot account for the wealth nearly gets him killed; but he sells the idea that he is a magician to the Wazir and fortune favors his predictions. Four other strands are also interwoven in the deft and very entertaining plot. His daughter has met and fallen in love in a garden with the young Caliph without recognizing him; the wicked Wazir of the empire is pressing the young ruler to marry one of the Wazir's choices for monetary advantage; the Wazir's sexy favorite wife falls in love with the poet; and the bandit chief is seeking his long-lost son, who turns out to be the wicked Wazir. All the strands meet when to save his daughter from being forcibly married to the Wazir (to keep her from the Caliph who is still searching for her), the poet tries to drown the Wazir who has had his bandit father murdered when he's found him,and the Caliph alone can set things to rights when he discovers what his true enemy has been plotting. The poet accepts banishment--with Lalume--at an oasis, the daughter marries the Caliph, and the story ends in a splendid wedding. Robert Wright adapted the songs from the music of Aleksandr Borodin. Charles leader and Luther Davis get the credit for the literate screenplay; The sterling cinematography was done by Joseph Ruttenberg, art direction by Cedric Gibbons and E. Preston Ames, with set decoration by F. Keogh Gleason and Edwin Willis. Tony Duquette created the elaborate costumes for this Arabian Nights romp with hairstylings by Sydney Guilaroff and makeup by William Tuttle. Some of the lovely songs from this show are among the brightest lyrics and most beautiful melodies in Broadway--and Hollywood--history. The showstoppers are "Stranger in Paradise", "This is My Beloved", "The Olive Tree", "The Song of the Hand", Not Since Nineveh", Baubles, Bangles and Beads", "Night of My Nights", "Sands of Time" and "Rahadlakum". Among the performers, Dolores Gray is incomparable in the part, and Howard Keel very good in every respect. Among the others involved, Jack Elam, Ted de Corsia, Monty Wolley, and Flippen contribute good work. With a bit more money to expend, outdoor locations could have expanded the film. But most viewers who discover this film fall under the spell of its opulent and beautifully-pacing opening and find the production, as do professionally and personally, very enjoyable indeed.

A lack of fate

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 28 January 2017]

Kismet is not the best of the MGM musicals, the songs sound plain bad to modern ears and hence a reason why the musicals died a celluloid death. Even the story and direction is heavy handed with little fun injected.

Howard Keel plays the opportunistic poet and beggar Hajj in old Baghdad. His daughter Marsinah falls for the young Caliph who is wandering in the market in disguise as a commoner.

Hajj gets mistaken as man who has the power to inflict curses and rewind them which brings him to the attention of the powerful Wazir who wants the Caliph to marry someone else.

The directing and scenery in Kismet is pedestrian, you would not even think that this was directed by Vincente Minnelli. The film also has an unfortunate mix of the middle east and far east, one of the dance sequences at the end was more Thai influenced.

Arabian Nights musical with great cast and music

[Johnny B · 8/10 · 22 September 1998]

Here we have a musical which unfortunately did not get the full MGM treatment other musicals have been given before. On stage this was a huge hit with complex orchestrations, high quality singing and dancing girls. However, I don't know why, the music was ridiculously simplified, the singing was good but not so complex (for example the exhilarating "And This is My Beloved" lost almost all of its charm once the overlapping quartet was eliminated). As to dancing girls there is not much to choose from. But we still have here a very good example of high entertainment, despite the many drawbacks done by the production company. The sets and the costumes are very realistic and the singing is very good when compared to the quality of the music. Keel and Gray are great as the 'mature' lovers who know how to enjoy life at the expense of her husband. His rich baritone and her sensual contralto voice are at their best in the hypnotic "Rahadlakum", while Vic Damone's tenor and Ann Blyth's soprano reach theirs in the love duets "Stranger in Paradise" and "This is my Beloved." Another good song which wasn't effected too much by the alterations was the philosophical "Sands of Time" sung by the great and unforgettable Keel. If you like musicals, adventures and girls in Arabian costumes this is the movie for you.

Ghey, ghey, ghey, ghey, ghey

[ArtVandelayImporterExporter · 2/10 · 19 April 2022]

I'm not sure there are any Broadway musicals that transfered well to the big screen other than The Music Man. The over-rated duds certainly out-number the gems. And then there are the outright dogs.

In this particular dog, Howard Keel plays, um, a hyper-active semi-r3trded Baghdadian. Vic Damone has the screen presence of a turnip and he can't even hit his mark; in one scene he cuts off an extra walking through.

There are a couple of women singers I don't care about. I loathe that fake operatic singing. It should have been left behind with Irene Dunne's performance in the early Showboat.

FF'ing through the terrible story to get to the musical numbers didn't help. The whole thing sounds and feels about as Arabian as a NY Rangers hockey game.

Another great romantic musical of the 1950's

[thguru · 29 December 1999]

I first saw this movie when I was 10 years old with my parents. I fell in love with Ann Blyth and wanted to grow up and marry her someday. Seeing her in the Student Prince also helped. This was a great musical of the time. Younger people, when seeing this movie today (1999) must take into consideration that we had different morality then. Men,as well as women,liked movies for the romance . We were not looking for cheap sex scenes or showing a lot of skin. Ahhh.., the butterflies in the stomach and heart palpitations of being in love. Jane Powell was another heart throb of the time. See her movies also. I only wished I could have gown up and looked like and sang like Howard Keel.

Baubles, Bangles and Beads---Indeed!

[malvernp · 5/10 · 3 February 2022]

The 1950s was the decade that reflected the greatest sense of irony in the history of movie musicals. The genre was then well past its prime, and the Studio System that made these films possible was beginning its slow but noticeable decline and ultimate fall. Yet in the midst of all this bad news, the movie musical actually reached its ultimate apex of artistic and popular accomplishment. During the 1950s, we saw what most people now regard as the greatest musical film of all time (Singin' in the Rain); the first musical to win a Best Picture Oscar (An American in Paris); one of the greatest transfers of a Broadway musical to the screen (Kiss Me Kate): some of the very finest musical films ever made by Fred Astaire (The Band Wagon, Funny Face and his last great major musical---Silk Stockings); and some fine musicals of comparable lofty accomplishment made by Gene Kelly (Brigadoon, It's Always Fair Weather and his last great major musical---Les Girls). And then there is Kismet--produced in 1955.

The accumulation of high quality talent dedicated to the project, the success realized by its Broadway and other antecedents and the significant prestige and reputation of the MGM Studio should have guaranteed that the film version of Kismet would be a fine postscript to the genre---a worthy addition to the great twilight period of the movie musical's Golden Age. Alas---this was not to be. Why? Apparently, there were a number of possible reasons.

First---perhaps foremost--the director (Vincente Minnelli) did not like the property, did not want to be associated with its filming and agreed to do so only to help facilitate his commitment to the movie project of his dreams that he was working on almost simultaneously (Lust for Life). Also, Kismet was a highly stylized (and rather dated) musical property that probably worked better in the less realistic medium of a live stage performance. In addition, Minnelli's overall disinterest in Kismet may have contributed to some rather indifferent attention to detail that detracted from the film's enjoyment by its audience. One example--Keel's vocal delivery in some scenes seems "rushed" and often was somewhat difficult to understand. Furthermore, the less expensive Eastman Color process was generally considered to be inferior to the almost universally used (by MGM) Technicolor format, and that detracted from the film's presentation. Finally, with the exception of Howard Keel and Dolores Gray, some of the assembled movie cast just seemed to miss the overall strength required to elevate the quite light fantasy nature of the material to a more memorable and timeless status.

Perhaps by 1955, it was too late to make a successful musical film version of Kismet. Maybe the audience for such totally fantasy/escapist fare was then too small to justify the high cost of its creation. It cannot be denied that the Borodin-inspired songs, lively dance numbers and gorgeous sets and costumes were thoroughly enjoyable. But the time for Hollywood to indulge in making such entertainment was now rapidly changing and coming to an end. With West Side Story that came just a few years later, Hollywood reinvented the musical film to reflect a greater sense of contemporary realism and social significance that persists to this day.

Truly a gem among the baubles, bangles and beads.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 1 February 2013]

Some might refer to this as a rhinestone, but those cynical people can have their opinion. When you just lay back and listen to the soundtrack, just feel the shivers that rush up and down your spine as Vic Damone sings of a "Stranger in Paradise", Ann Blyth warbles "Baubels, Bangles and Beads", and together, the two of them declare, "And This is My Beloved". That is romantic music at its best, and when you put it in this exotic setting, you have a movie that, like a York Peppermint Patty, will take you far away from your troubles and leave you singing in your mind.

One of many versions of the classic tale of a beggar/thief who sings of "Fate" and "The Olive Tree", this colorful MGM musical may look like a Maria Montez/Sabu movie, but there is nothing wrong with that, and the movie is so much more. It is romantic. It is witty. It is beautiful to look at. And most importantly of all, it features one of the most beautiful of all Broadway scores that doesn't date even if the plot to some might seem like an opera that Wagner never got his hands on.

The storyline focuses on the wise beggar Hajj (Howard Keel in another one of the Alfred Drake musical roles he took to the silver screen) and his lovely daughter Marsinah (Blyth) who find romance in the most unexpected of Bagdad places: the palace! Keel wins the lusty eyes of Lalume (the succulent Dolores Gray), wife of the Wazir, while Blyth meets a young man (Damone) she assumes is a gardener who is really, of all people, the caliph! The young man is in danger of loosing his throne to usurpers (most obviously, the evil Wazir, played by "Family Affair's" Mr. French, Sebastian Cabot) but ultimately, as Keel sings, fate will take care of that. Gray makes her entrance in the most luscious of ways, singing "Not Since Ninevah" with a chorus of female Asian warriors "Bagdad! Don't Underestimate Bagdad!" she sings, leading into the fiery production number that practically stops the whole show even before it barely starts. And then when she breaks into "Bored", you know you've got the type of female that could never just settle for being the Wazir's wife; The insinuations are obvious, especially when Keel and Gray duet on "Rahadlakum" The romantic entanglement of Blyth and Damone doesn't stop the show cold like some young romances do; In fact, it spruces it up with their other musical number "Night of My Nights".

Nearing the end of the Arthur Freed/Vincent Minnelli era (MGM was slowly dissolving their contract player list), "Kismet" didn't do as well as they had hoped, but like their 1948 pairing, "The Pirate", I think it holds up better today. It might not fare so well on stage (revivals in both L.A. and New York's concert musical series have gotten mixed reviews for the comic material), but oh, what a pleasure it is to hear.

Simply horrible

[johnrp-1 · 2/10 · 13 April 2004]

We can only hope that the Middle East never sees this movie ... or they'll attack us for sure! This is SO campy and stereotyped, it hurts to watch it.

Okay, so this was the style of musicals back in the 50s, but there are many others that were produced back then that aren't so embarrassing! This movie is really bad.

But I didn't give it a '1'. It did merit a '2' if not only for the occasional humor. The dialog is so bad that sometimes it is funny, and I wasn't quite sure if it was or was not intentional. So I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this film. It amazes me that some people out there actually gave it a good score. Go figure.