Song of Scheherazade ** (1947, Yvonne De Carlo, Brian Donlevy, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Eve Arden, Phillip Reed) – Classic Movie Review 8832

Writer-director Walter Reisch’s Universal International Pictures’ amiably soppy and campy Technicolor extravaganza Song of Scheherazade (1947) is a fictionalised biopic of the Russian composer Nikolai ‘Nicky’ Rimsky-Korsakov (Jean-Pierre Aumont), who finds his muse in dancing lady Cara de Talavera (Yvonne De Carlo), daughter of a family of formerly wealthy Spanish colonists.

While serving in the Russian Navy during the 1860s, midshipman ‘Nicky’ and the other cadets of a Russian Naval Academy ship take shore leave in Morocco, where they fatefully meet Dr Klin (Charles Kullmann) and his family.

Miklós Rózsa’s scoring makes fine use of the glorious tunes but writer-director Reisch fails to breathe much in the way of vibrant life into the film, though it is entertainingly escapist, kitsch and colourful. Brian Donlevy and Eve Arden also star as Captain Vladimir Gregorovitch and Madame de Talavera, with Phillip Reed as Prince Mischetsky.

Also in the cast are Charles Kullmann, John Qualen, Richard Lane, Terry Kilburn, George Dolenz, Elena Verdugo, Robert Kendall, Rex Ravelle, Mickey Simpson, Sol Haines and Florence Rozen.

Song of Scheherazade is directed by Walter Reisch, runs 106 minutes, is made and released by Universal International Pictures, is written by Walter Reisch, is shot in Technicolor by Hal Mohr and William V Skall, is produced by Edward Kaufman, is scored by Miklós Rózsa, and is designed by Jack Otterson and Eugène Lourié, with choreography by Tilly Losch.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8832

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