Kismet *** (1944, Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, James Craig, Edward Arnold, Hugh Herbert, Joy Ann Page, Florence Bates, Harry Davenport) – Classic Movie Review 7749

The MGM studio’s wonderfully plush and luscious remake of the Edward Knoblock stage yarn is World War Two wartime escapism gone mad, with notable casting in Ronald Colman as the beggar king Hafiz and Jamilla played by Marlene Dietrich, who memorably dances painted in gold.

Director William Dieterle 1944 fantasy adventure movie Kismet is appealingly camp and amusing, and still deliciously entertaining for the charismatic stars and character actors, the lovely production with lavish, colourful sets, and the gorgeous Technicolor cinematography.

It was nominated for four Oscars: Best Cinematography Color (Charles Rosher), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration Color (Cedric Gibbons, Daniel B Cathcart, Edwin B Willis, Richard Pefferle), Best Sound Recording and Best Music (Douglas Shearer), Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Herbert Stothart).

However, both star actors give the impression that they are slumming, which in some ways they are, and the Aleksandr Borodin tunes in the songs of the 1955 Howard Keel musical version Kismet would help (though Harold Arlen does provide the rather ordinary ‘Tell Me Tell Me Evening Star’ and ‘Willow in the Wind’).

Edward Arnold adds a full measure of fun as the wily grand vizier Mansur, and so do Hugh Herbert as Feisal, Florence Bates as Karsha and Harry Davenport as Chanellor Agha, but James Craig as the caliph of Bagdad and Joy Ann Page as Colman’s daughter Marsinah are unforgivably dull. Future star Yvonne De Carlo plays a handmaiden.

Also in the cast are Hobart Cavanaugh, Robert Warwick, Charles Middleton, Victor Kilian, Nestor Paiva, Minerva Urecal, Cy Kendall, Dan Seymour, Pedro de Cordoba, Morris Ankrum, Dick Botiller, Paul Bradley, Harry Cording, Leatrice Joy Gilbert, Charles Judels, Charles La Torre, John Maxwell, John Merton, Charles Middleton, Dale Van Sickel, Morgan Wallace, Eve Whitney and Joe Yule.

The 1911 Edward Knoblock play was first filmed as a silent movie in 1920, and then as the 1930 talkie Kismet, directed by John Francis Dillon, starring Otis Skinner, Loretta Young, David Manners, Mary Duncan and Sidney Blackmer.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7749

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