Kismet (1944 film)
Encyclopedia
Kismet is a 1944 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
film in Technicolor
starring Ronald Colman
, Marlene Dietrich
, Joy Page
, and Florence Bates
. James Craig
played the young Caliph of Baghdad, and Edward Arnold
was the treacherous Grand Vizier. It was directed by William Dieterle
, but was not a success at the box office.
The film is based on the play of the same name
by Edward Knoblock, which was also the basis for a 1953 musical
. The musical had been filmed twice before, in 1920 and again in 1930 by Warner Brothers in an English version directed by John Francis Dillon
and in a German-language version directed by William Dieterle.
was new and shiny", in an Arabian Nights atmosphere. Colman plays Hafiz, a middle-aged trickster and magician who calls himself the King of Beggars. He occasionally puts on elegant attire and goes about the city pretending to be the "Prince of Hassir". On one such occasion, he meets and amuses Lady Jamilla (Dietrich), the head wife of the Grand Vizier.
Meanwhile, the young Caliph (James Craig) disguises himself as a commoner, the "son of the Royal Gardener", and roams the streets of Baghdad to learn about his subjects firsthand, despite the disapproval of his trusted adviser Agha (Harry Davenport). On one such excursion, he meets the "Prince of Hassir" and is amused by his magic tricks.
Determined to make a beautiful life for his daughter Marsinah (Page), Hafiz has built high walls around his house, brought her up on fairy tales and promised her she will marry royalty. Marsinah's nurse, Karsha (Bates), growls "Bah!" every time Hafiz gets expansive about the future. She knows Marsinah has fallen in love with a "gardener's son", but keeps it from Hafiz. Marsinah tells her suitor about Hafiz' promise of a "prince who will batter the walls down". The Caliph returns to his palace, planning to do exactly that and propose to Marsinah.
The next day, Hafiz witnesses an attempt on the Caliph's life by an agent of the Grand Vizier (Arnold). The Vizier kills the would-be assassin before he can be caught and questioned, but the Caliph suspects him of being behind the plot nonetheless.
Although he knows the Caliph is unmarried, Hafiz decides the Vizier is good enough for his daughter, for he might be Caliph himself tomorrow. Donning fancy stolen clothes, Hafiz talks his way into the Vizier's presence as the Prince of Hassir and offers him Marsinah's hand in marriage. The Vizier plies Hafiz with wine and food and shows off his dancing girls. A reluctant Jamilla only agrees to perform when she realizes the guest is her friend. In a private moment, Hafiz asks Jamilla to leave the Vizier and marry him, and she agrees; Marsinah will take her place as the head of the household. Returning home, Hafiz tells his daughter to prepare for her wedding day; Marsinah is outraged, then resigned.
Then Hafiz is arrested for theft and brought before the amused Vizier. He is sentenced to have his hands cut off, but before the sentence can be carried out, a messenger ominously summons the Vizier to appear before the Caliph. To ensure his obedience, the Vizier's palace is surrounded by the Caliph's soldiers. Hafiz bargains with the Vizier for his hands and his life (at least temporarily) by offering to kill the Caliph.
Hafiz pretends to seek employment with the Caliph during a public audience. The plan goes awry when the Caliph, whose spies have revealed Hafiz to be Marsinah's father, laughingly tells Hafiz that they have met before. Hafiz's hidden dagger misses its mark. In the confusion, the Vizier makes his escape, and Hafiz also manages to flee. Hafiz follows the Vizier to his palace. There he kills the Vizier to stop him from fleeing with Marsinah.
The Caliph orders his men to tear down the walls of Hafiz's house, just as Hafiz had prophesied, and rides in on his white horse; Marsinah then realizes that the gardener's son and the Caliph are one. Though Hafiz is exiled from Baghdad for life, he sees his beloved daughter married to the Caliph and is sent to Hassir—as a prince, with Jamilla at his side.
, Best Music
, Best Sound (Douglas Shearer
) and Best Art Direction
(Cedric Gibbons
, Daniel B. Cathcart
, Edwin B. Willis, Richard Pefferle
).
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
film in 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...
starring Ronald Colman
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Joy Page
Joy Page
Joy Page was an American actress best known for her role as the Bulgarian bride Annina Brandel in the film Casablanca ....
, and Florence Bates
Florence Bates
Florence Bates was an American character actress who often played grande dame characters in her films.Born Florence Rabe in San Antonio, Texas, the second child of Jewish immigrants, Bates showed musical talent as a child, but a hand injury inhibited her from continuing her piano studies...
. James Craig
James Craig (actor)
James Craig was an American actor.After graduating from the Rice Institute, Craig began appearing in films in 1937, most often in B-movies and serials...
played the young Caliph of Baghdad, and Edward Arnold
Edward Arnold (actor)
Edward Arnold was an American actor. He was born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, the son of German immigrants Carl Schneider and Elizabeth Ohse.-Acting career:...
was the treacherous Grand Vizier. It was directed by William Dieterle
William Dieterle
William Dieterle was a German actor and film director, who worked in Hollywood for much of his career. His best known films include The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Story of Louis Pasteur and The Hunchback of Notre Dame...
, but was not a success at the box office.
The film is based on the play of the same name
Kismet (play)
Kismet is a three-act play written in 1911 by Edward Knoblauch . The title means Fate or Destiny in Turkish and Urdu. The play ran for an extraordinary two years in London...
by Edward Knoblock, which was also the basis for a 1953 musical
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...
. The musical had been filmed twice before, in 1920 and again in 1930 by Warner Brothers in an English version directed by John Francis Dillon
John Francis Dillon (director)
John Francis Dillon was an American film director and actor of the silent era. He directed 130 films between 1914 and 1934...
and in a German-language version directed by William Dieterle.
Plot
The story takes place "when old BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
was new and shiny", in an Arabian Nights atmosphere. Colman plays Hafiz, a middle-aged trickster and magician who calls himself the King of Beggars. He occasionally puts on elegant attire and goes about the city pretending to be the "Prince of Hassir". On one such occasion, he meets and amuses Lady Jamilla (Dietrich), the head wife of the Grand Vizier.
Meanwhile, the young Caliph (James Craig) disguises himself as a commoner, the "son of the Royal Gardener", and roams the streets of Baghdad to learn about his subjects firsthand, despite the disapproval of his trusted adviser Agha (Harry Davenport). On one such excursion, he meets the "Prince of Hassir" and is amused by his magic tricks.
Determined to make a beautiful life for his daughter Marsinah (Page), Hafiz has built high walls around his house, brought her up on fairy tales and promised her she will marry royalty. Marsinah's nurse, Karsha (Bates), growls "Bah!" every time Hafiz gets expansive about the future. She knows Marsinah has fallen in love with a "gardener's son", but keeps it from Hafiz. Marsinah tells her suitor about Hafiz' promise of a "prince who will batter the walls down". The Caliph returns to his palace, planning to do exactly that and propose to Marsinah.
The next day, Hafiz witnesses an attempt on the Caliph's life by an agent of the Grand Vizier (Arnold). The Vizier kills the would-be assassin before he can be caught and questioned, but the Caliph suspects him of being behind the plot nonetheless.
Although he knows the Caliph is unmarried, Hafiz decides the Vizier is good enough for his daughter, for he might be Caliph himself tomorrow. Donning fancy stolen clothes, Hafiz talks his way into the Vizier's presence as the Prince of Hassir and offers him Marsinah's hand in marriage. The Vizier plies Hafiz with wine and food and shows off his dancing girls. A reluctant Jamilla only agrees to perform when she realizes the guest is her friend. In a private moment, Hafiz asks Jamilla to leave the Vizier and marry him, and she agrees; Marsinah will take her place as the head of the household. Returning home, Hafiz tells his daughter to prepare for her wedding day; Marsinah is outraged, then resigned.
Then Hafiz is arrested for theft and brought before the amused Vizier. He is sentenced to have his hands cut off, but before the sentence can be carried out, a messenger ominously summons the Vizier to appear before the Caliph. To ensure his obedience, the Vizier's palace is surrounded by the Caliph's soldiers. Hafiz bargains with the Vizier for his hands and his life (at least temporarily) by offering to kill the Caliph.
Hafiz pretends to seek employment with the Caliph during a public audience. The plan goes awry when the Caliph, whose spies have revealed Hafiz to be Marsinah's father, laughingly tells Hafiz that they have met before. Hafiz's hidden dagger misses its mark. In the confusion, the Vizier makes his escape, and Hafiz also manages to flee. Hafiz follows the Vizier to his palace. There he kills the Vizier to stop him from fleeing with Marsinah.
The Caliph orders his men to tear down the walls of Hafiz's house, just as Hafiz had prophesied, and rides in on his white horse; Marsinah then realizes that the gardener's son and the Caliph are one. Though Hafiz is exiled from Baghdad for life, he sees his beloved daughter married to the Caliph and is sent to Hassir—as a prince, with Jamilla at his side.
Cast
- Ronald ColmanRonald ColmanRonald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
- Hafiz - Marlene DietrichMarlene DietrichMarlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
- Jamilla - James CraigJames Craig (actor)James Craig was an American actor.After graduating from the Rice Institute, Craig began appearing in films in 1937, most often in B-movies and serials...
- Caliph - Edward ArnoldEdward Arnold (actor)Edward Arnold was an American actor. He was born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, the son of German immigrants Carl Schneider and Elizabeth Ohse.-Acting career:...
- The Grand Vizier - Hugh HerbertHugh HerbertHugh Herbert was a motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville, and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.-Career:...
- Feisal - Joy PageJoy PageJoy Page was an American actress best known for her role as the Bulgarian bride Annina Brandel in the film Casablanca ....
- Marsinah (as Joy Ann Page) - Florence BatesFlorence BatesFlorence Bates was an American character actress who often played grande dame characters in her films.Born Florence Rabe in San Antonio, Texas, the second child of Jewish immigrants, Bates showed musical talent as a child, but a hand injury inhibited her from continuing her piano studies...
- Karsha - Harry Davenport - Agha
- Hobart CavanaughHobart CavanaughHobart Cavanaugh was an American character actor in films and on stage.Born in Virginia City, Nevada, Cavanaugh made his film debut in San Francisco Nights...
- Moolah - Robert Warwick - Alfife
Awards
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards; Best CinematographyAcademy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Music
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
, Best Sound (Douglas Shearer
Douglas Shearer
Douglas G. Shearer was a Canadian-born pioneer sound designer and recording director who played a key role in the advancement of sound technology for motion pictures.-Early life and career:...
) and Best Art Direction
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...
(Cedric Gibbons
Cedric Gibbons
Austin Cedric Gibbons was an Irish American art director who was one of the most important and influential in the field in the history of American film. He also made a great impact on motion picture theater architecture through the 1930s to 1950s, the period considered the golden-era of theater...
, Daniel B. Cathcart
Daniel B. Cathcart
Daniel B. Cathcart was an American art director. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.He was born in Idaho and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...
, Edwin B. Willis, Richard Pefferle
Richard Pefferle
Richard Pefferle was an American set decorator. He was nominated for six Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Pefferle was nominated for six Academy Awards for Best Art Direction:...
).