Main Cast: Cornel Wilde, Evelyn Keyes, Phil Silvers, Adele Jergens, Dusty Anderson
Release Year: 1945
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
Thousand and One Nights is an occasionally strident but generally successful satire of the popular Universal Jon Hall/Maria Montez epics. Cornel Wilde stars as a twentyish Aladdin, whose magic lamp yields two genies: Collosus-like Rex Ingram (repeated the role he played in 1940's Thief of Baghdad) and ravishing redhead Evelyn Keyes (who, like future TV genie Barbara Eden, was seemingly born without a navel). Wilde uses his new-found wealth and magical powers to woo princess Adele Jergens, but not without the opposition of villainous Dennis Hoey. Phil Silvers plays Wilde's comic sidekick, a man "born 2000 years ahead of his time" who wears glasses, spouts jive-talk ("Slip me some skin, Abdul!") and cracks anachronistic jokes. The final gag in Thousand and One Nights, in which the genie gives Phil Silvers the voice of Frank Sinatra, has been removed from many TV prints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
It's harder to get much sillier than A Thousand and One Nights, but in this instance silly pays off. This take-off on the familiar Aladdin tale may confuse some modern viewers with references that were so up-to-the-moment in 1945 but are ancient history now, but it's all done with such sparkle and such a sense of fun that most viewers will just shrug at the dated aspects and move on. Nothing in Nights is played very straight, and the result is not too far off from what Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour were doing whenever they went on "the Road." In Cornel Wilde, Nights doesn't have an actor with the same flair for comedy as Hope or Crosby, but he knows his way around a sword fight and knows enough not to take himself too seriously. Phil Silvers, fortunately, knows how to land a laugh line and takes advantage of this at every opportunity. Evelyn Keyes and Adele Jurgens make for some attractive distractions, and the supporting cast features a number of character actors that certainly know their stuff. Surprisingly, given that it's a Columbia picture, it even has a lush physical production, not to mention some great Technicolor photography. It all adds up to a very silly film -- but a very enjoyable one as well. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Stephen Goosson - Art Director, Rudolph Sternad - Art Director, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Alfred E. Green - Director, Gene Havlick - Editor, Marlin Skiles - Composer (Music Score), Morris W. Stoloff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ray Rennahan - Cinematographer, Sam Bischoff - Producer, Frank A. Tuttle - Set Designer, Lawrence W. Butler - Special Effects, Richard English - Screenwriter, Jack Henley - Screenwriter, Wilfred H. Pettit - Screenwriter, Wilfrid H. Pettitt - Short Story Author
^"Cornel Wilde, Evelyn Keyes In New Technicolor Arabia". Christian Science Monitor: p. 4. 1945-07-13. "A traditional Arabian Nights romance, some modern spoofing comedy, and a bit of trick photography have been put together in a lavish Technicolor production to make "A Thousand and One Nights," the new feature at the State and Orpheum."
