Main Cast: Otis Skinner, Loretta Young, David Manners, Mary Duncan, Sidney Blackmer
Release Year: 1930
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
Edward Knoblock's warhorse theatrical piece Kismet, first filmed in 1920, resurfaced as a talkie in 1930. Repeating the role he'd created on stage in 1911, Otis Skinner stars as Hajji, the wily Baghdad beggar who goes from rags to riches to rags again to riches again in the space of 24 hours. Outwitting the evil wazir (Sidney Blackmer), Hajji manages to install himself in the royal palace, romance the wazir's gorgeous "head wife," and arrange the marriage between his own daughter (Loretta Young) and the caliph's son (David Manners). Though well on in years, Skinner conveys much of the effortless charisma which had endeared him to audiences since the turn of the century. Kismet was remade in 1944 with Ronald Colman and Marlene Dietrich; the popular Broadway musical version was brought to the screen in 1955, with Howard Keel as Hajji. The subsequent film versions have kept the 1930 Kismet out of television circulation, denying future generations the pleasure of watching the legendary Otis Skinner in action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Warner Bros. spared no expense in making this picture. They spent $600,000 in producing it and the extravagance of the film was noted by every reviewer. The film played in ten cities across the United States in the wide-screen Vitascope (65mm) version while the rest of the country (which did not yet have theaters capable of playing widescreen films) were provided with standard 35mm prints.
Trivia
At the time he played Hajj in the sound version, Otis Skinner was 72. This was his only feature-length sound film.
In 1930, a German-language version of Kismet was filmed simultaneously by director William Dieterle -- who also directed the 1944 version with Marlene Dietrich.
Preservation
The film is believed to be lost. The enormous amount of Pre-Code content (especially in the sequences in the harem) probably contributed to this loss, as the film was condemned by the censors in 1935 and consequently became illegal to exhibit or view in the United States. Two considerably cleaned-up remakes, both in color, were made of the film, one in 1944 and the other in 1955. The 1955 version was an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical based on the play. Some sources claim that the original 1930 film featured Technicolor sequences. The complete soundtrack survives on Vitaphone disks.
