A Thousand and One Nights (film)
Encyclopedia
A Thousand and One Nights (1945
) is a tongue-in-cheek Technicolor
fantasy film
set in the Baghdad
of the One Thousand and One Nights, starring Cornel Wilde
as Aladdin
, Evelyn Keyes
as the genie
of the magic lamp, Phil Silvers
as Aladdin's larcenous sidekick, and Adele Jergens
as the princess Aladdin loves.
It was nominated for two Academy Awards
, for Art Direction, Color
(Stephen Goosson
, Rudolph Sternad
, Frank Tuttle
) and Special Effects
.
.
1945 in film
The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
) is a tongue-in-cheek Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
fantasy film
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
set in the Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
of the One Thousand and One Nights, starring Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde was an American actor and film director.-Early life:Kornél Lajos Weisz was born in 1912 in Prievidza, Hungary , although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City...
as Aladdin
Aladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
, Evelyn Keyes
Evelyn Keyes
Evelyn Louise Keyes was an American film actress. She is best-known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind.-Early life:...
as the genie
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
of the magic lamp, Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
as Aladdin's larcenous sidekick, and Adele Jergens
Adele Jergens
Adele Jergens was an American actress.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Jergen's birth date is sometimes listed as 1922. Jergens first rose to prominence in the late 1930s, when she was named "Miss World's Fairest" at the 1939 New York World's Fair...
as the princess Aladdin loves.
It was nominated for two Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, for Art Direction, Color
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Stephen Goosson
Stephen Goosson
Stephen Goosson was an Academy Award-winning American film set designer.Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Goosson was an architect in Detroit before starting his film career as art director for producer Lewis J. Selznick, and films for Fox Film Corporation such as New Movietone Follies of 1930...
, Rudolph Sternad
Rudolph Sternad
Rudolph Sternad was an American art director. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction. He was a frequent collaborator of producer-director Stanley Kramer, working with him on virtually all of the films that Kramer directed, and many famous ones that he only...
, Frank Tuttle
Frank Tuttle (set decorator)
Frank Tuttle was an American set decorator. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Tuttle was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction:...
) and Special Effects
Academy Award for Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.-History of the award:The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1928, presenting a...
.
Cast
- Cornel WildeCornel WildeCornel Wilde was an American actor and film director.-Early life:Kornél Lajos Weisz was born in 1912 in Prievidza, Hungary , although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City...
as Aladdin - Evelyn KeyesEvelyn KeyesEvelyn Louise Keyes was an American film actress. She is best-known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind.-Early life:...
as the Genie - Phil SilversPhil SilversPhil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
as Abdullah - Adele JergensAdele JergensAdele Jergens was an American actress.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Jergen's birth date is sometimes listed as 1922. Jergens first rose to prominence in the late 1930s, when she was named "Miss World's Fairest" at the 1939 New York World's Fair...
as Princess Armina - Dusty AndersonDusty AndersonRuth "Dusty" Anderson is an American actress and World War II pin-up girl.She began her career as a model and made her motion picture debut in a minor role as one of the cover girls in the 1944 Columbia Pictures production of Cover Girl starring Rita Hayworth...
as Novira - Dennis Hoey as Sultan Kamar Al-Kir and his evil twin brother, Prince Hadji
- Philip Van ZandtPhilip Van ZandtPhilip "Phil" Van Zandt was a Dutch actor of film, stage and television. He made over 220 film and television appearances between 1939 and 1958.-Career:...
as Grand Wazir Abu-Hassan - Richard HaleRichard HaleRichard Hale was an American character actor of film, stage and television. Hale was known for his unusual appearance which usually landed him in the roles of either Middle Eastern or Native American characters....
as Kofir - Gus SchillingGus SchillingAugust "Gus" Schilling was an American film actor. A former burlesque comedian, the New York-born Schilling usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled.-Career:...
as Jafar - Nestor PaivaNestor PaivaNestor Paiva was an American actor of Portuguese descent who portrayed the innkeeper on Walt Disney's live-action television series Zorro by ABC and its feature film The Sign of Zorro which was shot in Burbank's Walt Disney Studios.-Career:Nestor appeared in motion pictures and television shows...
as Kahim - Rex IngramRex Ingram (actor)Rex Ingram was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Early life and career:Born near Cairo, Illinois on the Mississippi River, Ingram's father was a steamer fireman on the riverboat Robert E. Lee...
as a giant. Ingram had earlier played the genie in the similarly themed 19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
The Thief of BagdadThe Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)The Thief of Bagdad is a 1940 British fantasy film produced by Alexander Korda, and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with contributions by Korda's brothers Vincent and Zoltán, and William Cameron Menzies...
. - Shelley WintersShelley WintersShelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
as "a harem girl"
Plot
Aladdin and Abdullah the pickpocket become involved with a beautiful princess, intrigue in the court of the Sultan and the genii of the magic lamp. Abdullah is thought mad as he believes he comes from 1200 years in the future and speaks in 1940s slang. The film is a combination of an Arabian Nights adventure and a 1940's Hope, Crosby and Lamour Road film. Abdullah is rewarded by the genii by being transformed into Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
.