Kismet (1955) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error A roguish poet is given the run of the scheming Wazir's harem while pretending to help him usurp the young caliph.

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Fred and Lilly are a divorced pair of actors who are brought together by Cole Porter who has written a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, the couple seem to act a great ... See full summary » Director: George Sidney 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X Two Americans on a hunting trip in Scotland become lost. They encounter a small village, not on the map, called Brigadoon, in which people harbor a mysterious secret, and behave as if they were still living two hundred years in the past. Director: Vincente Minnelli An Iowa pajama factory worker falls in love with an affable superintendent who had been hired by the factory's boss to help oppose the workers' demand for a pay rise. Directors: George Abbott, Stanley Donen Stars: Doris Day, John Raitt, Carol Haney A girl is engaged to the local richman, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.

Director: Vincente Minnelli Hafiz, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself. Director: William Dieterle Loosely traces the life of tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921). He loves Musetta, in his home town of Naples, and then Dorothy, the daughter of one of the Metropolitan Opera's patrons. Caruso ... See full summary » Director: Richard Thorpe A sportswriter and a fashion-designer marry after a whirlwind romance, and discover they have little in common. Director: Vincente Minnelli A prince has a romance with a barmaid before he must give up personal happiness for duty. Director: Richard Thorpe A pretentiously artistic director is hired for a new Broadway musical and changes it beyond recognition. Director: Vincente Minnelli After writing a tell-all book about her days in the dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls", Sybil Wren (Kay Kendall) is sued for libeling her fellow dancer Angele (Taina Elg). A Rashomon ...

See full summary » Director: George Cukor Biopic of Australian swimming champ and entertainer Annette Kellerman. After overcoming polio, Kellerman achieves fame and creates a scandal when her one-piece bathing suit is considered indecent. Director: Mervyn LeRoy Biographic movie about the American composer Sigmund Romberg. Director: Stanley Donen Edit Storyline Like a tale spun by Scheherazade, Kismet follows the remarkable and repeated changes of fortune that engulf a poor poet. It all happens in one incredible day when Kismet (Fate) takes a hand. Written by Betty Frayne ECSTASY OF SONG, SPECTACLE AND LOVE! {poster - all caps] See more » Genres: 8 October 1955 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Un extraño en el paraíso See more » Filming Locations: Mono (Western Electric Sound System)| Stereo Color: Did You Know? Trivia Future mega-successful TV producer Aaron Spelling ( Charlie's Angels (1976), The Love Boat (1977), Dynasty (1981)) appears uncredited as a beggar.

Spelling wrote in his memoirs that this role made him decide to give up acting. Director Vincente Minnelli always said he was responsible for Spelling's career as a successful TV producer and told him: "Had I not put you in 'Kismet', you'd still be an actor somewhere." See more » Goofs Prior to the start of "Not Since Nineveh", Dolores Gray takes the gold purse from the Wazir to throw coins. When she's finished, she tosses ti back to Sebastian Cabot which the actor fumbles and drops at his feet. During the song, the bag disappears and reappears at times and ends up behind his feet. It finally disappears by the end of the dance. See more » Quotes The Caliph : I was stepped upon! Manservant : Oh inconceivable, All Highest, but true. You were incontrovertibly stepped upon.

Music Adapted by Bob Wright (as Robert Wright) and Chet Forrest (as George Forrest) Lyrics by Bob Wright (as Robert Wright) and Chet Forrest (as George Forrest) Another great romantic musical of the 1950's 29 December 1999 | by thguru (Fort Worth / Dallas, Texas) – See all my reviews I first saw this movie when I was 10 years old with my parents. I fell in love with Ann Blyth and wanted to grow up and marry her someday. Seeing her in the Student Prince also helped. This was a great musical of the time. Younger people, when seeing this movie today (1999) must take into consideration that we had different morality then. Men,as well as women,liked movies for the romance . We were not looking for cheap sex scenes or showing a lot of skin. Ahhh.., the butterflies in the stomach and heart palpitations of being in love. Jane Powell was another heart throb of the time. See her movies also. I only wished I could have gown up and looked like and sang like Howard Keel. 16 of 20 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Kismet - Rohnert Park, CA at Spreckels Performing Arts Center | SF Station Kismet Event has passed (Fri Feb 12, 2016 - Sun Feb 28, 2016) Cost Spreckels Theatre Company presents a staged concert of the 1953 Broadway musical "Kismet" "Kismet" - A Staged Concert A fanciful and romantic Arabian Night tale, "Kismet" follows the escapades of Hajj, a beggar poet availing his charm and wit as he dangerously elevates to a position of power and influence in ancient Baghdad, threatening his daughter's chances of true love. Rarely performed, this 1953 Tony award-winning Broadway musical delights with its exotic setting and lush score adapted from the soaring musical themes by composer Alexander Borodin. "Kismet" songs, including âBaubles, Bangles and Beads,â âStranger in Paradiseâ and âAnd This Is My Beloved,â became popular chart toppers in 1950s.

This Spreckels Theatre Company main stage production features an 11-piece orchestra joining the 28-member cast on stage. "Kismet" stars Tim Setzer of Napa as Hajj "The Poet"; Carmen Mitchell of Santa Rosa as the poet's daughter Marsinah; Jacob Bronson of the East Bay as The Caliph and features Harry Duke as Wazir, Brenda Reed as Lalume, Jeremy Berrick as Omar Khayyam and Dwayne Stincelli as Master Brigand Jawan. Directed by Gene Abravaya Music Direction by Diego Garcia Choreography by Michella Snider Feb. 12 to Feb. 28, 2016 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays $16 students; $22 youth; $24 seniors; $26 general. Student Rush: Spreckels welcomes SSU and SRJC students to take advantage of its student rush price. Present student ID at the Spreckels box office 10 minutes before curtain for special admission of $12. For tickets, call the Spreckels Box Office at 707-588-3400.

Box Office hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 12 to 5 p.m. and one hour before showtime. Stage 1950s I: When Broadway Ruled (The images below are thumbnails  click on them to see larger versions.) Mary Martin and Ethel Merman sing to a television audience of sixty million viewers in 1953. On June 15, 1953, the Ford Motor Company commemorated its fiftieth anniversary with an all-star television revue. The highlight was a joint performance by Ethel Merman and Mary Martin , staged by Jerome Robbins and transmitted live from Broadway's massive Center Theatre. The ladies sang trademark solos before sharing some duet medleys. The joint CBS/NBC broadcast attracted over sixty million viewers, and a live Decca recording of the Merman-Martin act sold over 100,000 copies in two days. In the 1950s, Broadway musicals were a major part of American popular culture. Every season saw new stage musicals send songs to the top of the charts. Public demand, a booming economy and abundant creative talent kept Broadway hopping.

To this day, the shows of the 1950s form the core of the musical theatre repertory. The best of these musicals integrated every element, offering recognizable characters singing in stories told with wit and genuine heart  in short, they applied the Rodgers & Hammerstein formula. Working the R&H Formula Even mediocre musicals that applied Rodgers & Hammerstein's formula could make a profit. Happy Hunting (1956 - 408 performances) had a score by a Brooklyn dentist, but who cared so long as Ethel Merman was on hand to sing it? The plot was ripped (in the clumsiest way) from the headlines. A low-born Philadelphia socialite who is not invited to Grace Kelly's royal wedding in Monaco avenges herself by getting her daughter engaged to an impoverished grand duke. With inescapable musical comedy logic, mama and the nobleman soon fall for each other, while the daughter falls for a young lawyer. The catchy songs "Mutual Admiration Society" and "Gee, But It's Good to Be Here" helped, but Happy Hunting was all about Merman. Co-star Fernando Lamas generated some unwelcome publicity by having a public feud with Merman.

He habitually upstaged her and on one occasion openly wiped his mouth after sharing an onstage kiss. Along with damning press coverage, Lamas earned an official sanction from Actor's Equity. Happy Hunting had no tour or film version, but its one year run made a profit. The original cast Playbill for Kismet (1953). The bearded genie-like figure represents Alfred Drake. One unusual variation on the post-Oklahoma format did well. George Forrest and Robert Wright , who had reset the melodies of Edvard Grieg for Song of Norway, now adapted themes by Alexander Borodin to create Kismet (1953 - 583 performances). This Arabian Nights-style tale (based on a popular melodrama by Edward Knoblock) talked like a musical comedy, dressed like a sexy burlesque skit and sang like an old-style operetta. New York's snootier critics were set to destroy this unusual hybrid, but a newspaper strike kept them out of print for a few crucial weeks. Audiences loved the lavish harem scenes and romantic melodies, and by the time the strike ended and the scathing reviews came, it was too late  word of mouth had made the show a major hit.

Alfred Drake gave a bravura performance as Hajj, a beggar-poet who becomes Wazir of Baghdad and makes his daughter Queen of Arabia by manipulating the twists of fate, his "kismet." As the Wazir's voluptuous concubine Lalume, Joan Diener 's soprano pyrotechnics and knockout figure won raves, as did Doretta Morrow as Hajj's daughter Marsinah and Richard Kiley as her beloved Caliph. "Stranger in Paradise," (based on the Polovetsian Dance No. 2 from Borodin's Prince Igor) became a pop hit, and Kismet picked up six Tonys, including Best Musical. Rodgers & Hammerstein: Supermen Gertrude Lawrence as seen on the original Playbill for The King and I. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II remained the musical theater's most potent creative team. At one point, they had four musicals running simultaneously on Broadway -- an unprecedented accomplishment. With the 1950s film versions of Oklahoma, Carousel and South Pacific grossing millions of dollars worldwide, the two songwriters were international celebrities, so it is not surprising that the media treated each new R&H stage production as a major event.

The King and I (1951 - 1,246 performances) was based on Anna Leonowens real life experiences tutoring the royal family of Siam in the 1860s. The clash of Eastern and Western cultures sets Anna and the King on a collision course, further complicated by their unspoken feelings for each other. Gertrude Lawrence , who had suggested the project, played the Welsh schoolteacher. At Mary Martin's urging, the little-known Yul Brynner was cast as the King. The score included "Whistle a Happy Tune," "Hello Young Lovers," "I Have Dreamed," and "Something Wonderful." In the show's most memorable moment, "Shall We Dance," depicted an impromptu dance lesson between Anna and the King that exploded with romantic tension. The musical theater lost one of its most luminous stars when Lawrence succumbed to cancer during the run. Brynner made a career of playing the King, appearing in the acclaimed 1956 film version and numerous revivals until his death in 1985.

Me and Juliet (1953 - 358 performances) was a backstage love story featuring the sultry tango "No Other Love Have I." Only a modest success by R&H standards, it had a fine score and innovative sets (by the legendary stage designer Jo Mielziner) that allowed a swift flow of action between on and offstage scenes. Pipe Dream (1955 - 246 performances) offered a sanitized adaptation of Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday starring Metropolitan Opera diva Helen Traubel. Critics and audiences were disappointed, making this Rodgers & Hammerstein's only financial failure. But it was such an important cultural event that the characters on the top rated TV sitcom I Love Lucy schemed to get Pipe Dream tickets. Flower Drum Song (1958 - 600 performances) did better, taking a genial look at East meeting West in San Francisco's Chinatown.

With direction by Gene Kelly , its score included "I Enjoy Being a Girl" and "Love Look Away." The Sound of Music (1959 - 1,443 performances) was inspired by the story of Austria's Trapp Family Singers and their escape from the Nazis in the 1930s. The score included "Do Re Mi," "Edelweiss," "My Favorite Things," and the title tune. With Mary Martin heading the cast, The Sound of Music won the Tony for Best Musical (in a rare tie vote with Fiorello). Critics who dismiss this show's sweet story have missed the real point. Amid all the sentiment, The Sound of Music offers an entertaining but devastating condemnation of those who empower evil by refusing to oppose it. The real bad guys are not the Nazis, but the so-called "decent" people who acquiesce to them. A superb and literate musical, The Sound of Music remains a beloved cultural landmark. Mary Martin leads the children in "Do Re Mi" on the cover of the original cast Playbill for The Sound of Music (1959).

Oscar Hammerstein II died due to stomach cancer a few months after The Sound of Music opened, ending a career that spanned the golden age of musical theatre and film. After working with the innovative Jerome Kern and operetta master Sigmund Romberg , he did his finest work with Rodgers, and later coached young Stephen Sondheim . More than any other individual, Hammerstein had turned the once-innocuous Broadway musical into a potent dramatic form, and had turned lyrics into essential dramatic tools. He did it by being a superb storyteller and a dedicated craftsman. Even when dealing with serious issues, he always kept his focus on intriguing characters caught in remarkable situations. "If the 1950s was the decade that promised a continuation of the musical's crucial place in the culture, it was at least partly because the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution of the 1940s urged the musical to seek beyond typical fare for stories based on realistic character development: to become drama.

Thus, the 1940s introduced the notion and the 1950s exploited it." - Ethan Mordden, Coming Up Roses: The Broadway Musical in the 1950s (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 26-27. More than three decades after his death, during the 1995-96 season, four Hammerstein musicals appeared on Broadway, and his work remains popular in the 21st Century. So long as people "know how it feels to have wings on their heels" or believe their "heart will be blest by the sound of music," Hammerstein's lyrics will be part of civilization's common language. Who else was composing great shows during this amazing decade? Kismet Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 35 out of 41 people found the following review useful: The Most Under Rated Movie Musical of All Time from Cincinnati, Ohio 2 March 2004 It's hard for me to believe that I saw many of these old M.G.M. musicals when they first came out when I was a teenager.

I first saw Kismet with my cousin and sister in Jackson, Mississippi, and we loved it! I don't like repeating myself, but just because a Broadway star is in a hit musical on Broadway doesn't necessarily mean that they are good movie material. They just don't have the following in the movies to support a movie such as movies like Kismet, Hello Dolly, Gypsy, and Kiss Me, Kate which is considered a better movie than it was a Broadway show. Kismet is glorious entertainment. Howard Keel is perfect as Hajj the Beggar and even though Ann Blyth was too old to be his daughter, you forgive that problem in casting. She never sang better and Vic Damone was great as the Prince. Thankfully, the songs "He's in Love" and "Was I Wazir" was cut from the film, but sadly, even though it was recorded and filmed "Rhymes Have I" was deleted from the movie. This should not have been. Maybe, some day, someone will restore this number in future Videos of Kismet.

You could not have cast anyone better than Delores Gray as Lalume, and the addition of her song "Bored" [not in the original play on Broadway] shows you don't have to be naked and obscene on the screen to get sex across to the audience as she sings her song and nearly seduces Howard Keel right on the spot, and could that woman sing! The wonderful thing about this movie is that a Broadway orchestra can't bring out the wonderful music as it is really meant to be heard like a movie orchestra can. For the first time you hear all the music in its richest melodies and Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone, and Delores Gray are thousands time better in their performances than the broadway cast could ever be. "And This is My Beloved" is a much better version in the movie than the Broadway rendition which was much too operatic. I remember that my cousin Margaret looked at me after Howard Keel sang "The Olive Tree" and she said that if her father ever looked at her the way Howard Keel looked at Ann Blyth, she'd run like hell. Let's face it!

Any Blyth was old enough to be his lover and not his daughter, but you forgive the producers for the miscast, because as a whole the film is not miscast, but perfect! It's just a shame that these films can't be seen on the large theater screens today with stereophonic sound the way they "should" be seen. Maybe, someday, someone will get the hint! Kismet was and is glorious, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Was the above review useful to you? 20 out of 21 people found the following review useful: Soft Simmering Breeze...Petals in the pool drifting.... from United States 23 June 2006 KISMET was originally a play by Edward Knobloch written about 1910, and used as a vehicle for many years by the popular Broadway character actor Otis Skinner, playing the role of Hajj, the philosophical thief who saves the Caliph of Baghdad. Skinner even did a silent film version of the play. Two years after his death in 1942 a sound version of the film (in color) was made starring Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, and Edward Arnold.

The movie was a success, but nobody realized it would shortly become extremely successful in a new way. A song writing team (Bob Wright and Chet Forrest) constructed a score for KISMET based on the melodies of Alexander Borodin. The score contained such songs that became standards as STRANGER IN PARADISE (from the "Polevetsian Dances" in the opera PRINCE IGOR), BAUBLES, BANGLES, and BEADS, THIS IS MY BELOVED, THIS WAS THE NIGHT OF MY LIFE, and others. Wright and Forrest would do this several times on Broadway (they composed reset themes by Heitor Villa Lobos in another musical, for example) but KISMET was their joint masterpiece. So successful were they at rejuvenating the old Knobloch play, it was eventually revived again in the late 1990s in a new form as TIMBUCTOO (reset from the Califate of Baghdad to the great African trade city). Eventually the musical came to the attention to the Freed unit at MGM, and Vincent Minelli was chosen to direct this 1955 version. The musical expanded on the play a little.

Howard Keel (as Hajj - the name was restored to the original one, not Hafiz as Ronald Colman was named in the 1944 version) is involved at the beginning with Jay C. Flippen as a violent bandit leader who is seeking his son, and whom Hajj suggests will be found in Baghdad. We see Flippen from time to time looking for his missing son. In the end he does find the son (who lives up or down to Flippen's own reputation). Keel had the right voice for Hajj, as did Dolores Gray as Lalume, the Vizier's bored wife (Dietrich in the 1944 film). Ann Blyth played Hajj's daughter Marsinah (who falls for the Caliph, Vic Damone). The evil vizier was played by Sebastian Cabot, and his rival government figure Omar (played by Harry Davenport in the 1944 film) is now played by Monty Wooley, in his final major movie part. Actually the musical is livelier than it's critical history suggests.

The old creaky play may turn off many critics, but it had some color, and the Borodin-inspired melodies raised it. But like BRIGADOON, Minelli could not shoot the film on location as it would have been incredibly expensive. Possibly the studio sets may have effected how the film was received by the critics. But it is entertaining, and (because of the music) very memorable. If some numbers were cut most of the big numbers were saved. Besides, I'd rather hear Keel sing A FOOL SAT BENEATH AN OLIVE TREE than hear Cabot (a questionable singing talent) try WAS I VIZIR. I don't think Sebastian Cabot even tried to sing once on FAMILY AFFAIR...his was a distinguished speaking voice, not a singing one. Was the above review useful to you? 22 out of 27 people found the following review useful: Superb Color, Intriguing Plot; and the Most Beautiful Music of Any Musical Author: silverscreen888 26 July 2005 This is musically the most glorious Broadway show of them all. in my judgment; and the most opulent of all filmed musicals in its sound, lyrics and colorful presentation.

Of course, it might have been made differently, or better, or smaller or larger. But I am personally glad, as its biggest fan, and as writer, singer, songwriter, critic and moviegoer, that the film was made as honestly as it was. To begin with, the cast is vocally (unarguably) very fine; the two songs omitted, "Was I Wazir" and "He's in Love" were stage songs, without movement and needed omitting. The direction by Vincente Minnelli is very solid and generally fine, the use of color unprecedented. And this film has Howard Keel's best movie role ever, Ann Blyth lovely and seemingly young as his daughter, Sebastian Cabot as the wicked Wazir, Jay C. Flippen as his bandit father, suggestively sexy Dolores Gray as Lalume, and Vic Damone as the lovestruck very-young Caliph. The film's story-line follows the revived stage-play which was adapted to musical purposes in the early 1950s, for Broadway.

The main storyline involves an ingenious but penniless poet, a maker of rhymes, who has a daughter; she wants a better life, he wants a better life for her. He finds gold, which a famous bandit claims as his own; but the gold buys him instant wealth; his arrest because he cannot account for the wealth nearly gets him killed; but he sells the idea that he is a magician to the Wazir and fortune favors his predictions. Four other strands are also interwoven in the deft and very entertaining plot. His daughter has met and fallen in love in a garden with the young Caliph without recognizing him; the wicked Wazir of the empire is pressing the young ruler to marry one of the Wazir's choices for monetary advantage; the Wazir's sexy favorite wife falls in love with the poet; and the bandit chief is seeking his long-lost son, who turns out to be the wicked Wazir.

All the strands meet when to save his daughter from being forcibly married to the Wazir (to keep her from the Caliph who is still searching for her), the poet tries to drown the Wazir who has had his bandit father murdered when he's found him,and the Caliph alone can set things to rights when he discovers what his true enemy has been plotting. The poet accepts banishment--with Lalume--at an oasis, the daughter marries the Caliph, and the story ends in a splendid wedding. Robert Wright adapted the songs from the music of Aleksandr Borodin. Charles leader and Luther Davis get the credit for the literate screenplay; The sterling cinematography was done by Joseph Ruttenberg, art direction by Cedric Gibbons and E. Preston Ames, with set decoration by F. Keogh Gleason and Edwin Willis. Tony Duquette created the elaborate costumes for this Arabian Nights romp with hairstylings by Sydney Guilaroff and makeup by William Tuttle. Some of the lovely songs from this show are among the brightest lyrics and most beautiful melodies in Broadway--and Hollywood--history.

The showstoppers are "Stranger in Paradise", "This is My Beloved", "The Olive Tree", "The Song of the Hand", Not Since Nineveh", Baubles, Bangles and Beads", "Night of My Nights", "Sands of Time" and "Rahadlakum". Among the performers, Dolores Gray is incomparable in the part, and Howard Keel very good in every respect. Among the others involved, Jack Elam, Ted de Corsia, Monty Wolley, and Flippen contribute good work. With a bit more money to expend, outdoor locations could have expanded the film. But most viewers who discover this film fall under the spell of its opulent and beautifully-pacing opening and find the production, as do professionally and personally, very enjoyable indeed. Was the above review useful to you? 15 out of 17 people found the following review useful: This musical is so underrated! from United States 29 May 2009 If you want a classic movie that is exotic, romantic and even hypnotic, Kismet fits the bill. Set in ancient Baghdad, Kismet gives us a much different perspective than we have today (even if it is a movie set).

First and foremost, it gives us that classic duet, 'Stranger in Paradise.' Second, it stars Howard Keel. Third, the romanticized Arabesque cinematography is superb. A 50's-style romantic 'Arabian Nights' setting sets the stage for a comedic/dramatic romance/love story in the tradition of ancient fable akin to Alladin and the Magic Lamp. Even the fact that almost everyone in the movie is a white person painted dark gives it a bygone sentimental appeal. I wish this movie were more available, particularly on DVD. It represents Howard Keel at his best in a role that is a departure from his usual venue. Was the above review useful to you? 16 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Another great romantic musical of the 1950's from Fort Worth / Dallas, Texas 29 December 1999 I first saw this movie when I was 10 years old with my parents. I fell in love with Ann Blyth and wanted to grow up and marry her someday. Seeing her in the Student Prince also helped. This was a great musical of the time.

Younger people, when seeing this movie today (1999) must take into consideration that we had different morality then. Men,as well as women,liked movies for the romance . We were not looking for cheap sex scenes or showing a lot of skin. Ahhh.., the butterflies in the stomach and heart palpitations of being in love. Jane Powell was another heart throb of the time. See her movies also. I only wished I could have gown up and looked like and sang like Howard Keel. Was the above review useful to you? 14 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Arabian Nights musical with great cast and music from Malta 22 September 1998 Here we have a musical which unfortunately did not get the full MGM treatment other musicals have been given before. On stage this was a huge hit with complex orchestrations, high quality singing and dancing girls. However, I don't know why, the music was ridiculously simplified, the singing was good but not so complex (for example the exhilarating "And This is My Beloved" lost almost all of its charm once the overlapping quartet was eliminated). As to dancing girls there is not much to choose from.

But we still have here a very good example of high entertainment, despite the many drawbacks done by the production company. The sets and the costumes are very realistic and the singing is very good when compared to the quality of the music. Keel and Gray are great as the 'mature' lovers who know how to enjoy life at the expense of her husband. His rich baritone and her sensual contralto voice are at their best in the hypnotic "Rahadlakum", while Vic Damone's tenor and Ann Blyth's soprano reach theirs in the love duets "Stranger in Paradise" and "This is my Beloved." Another good song which wasn't effected too much by the alterations was the philosophical "Sands of Time" sung by the great and unforgettable Keel. If you like musicals, adventures and girls in Arabian costumes this is the movie for you. Was the above review useful to you?

11 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Songwriting Doesn't Get Better Than This from Buffalo, New York 2 July 2009 Given the times we're in and the changing public tastes in music, I'm not sure how well a revival of Kismet as a Broadway show would do today. Certainly the music of Alexander Borodin remains timeless, but a show with an Arabian Nights setting, I'm not sure would go over so well right now. The Broadway show with Alfred Drake, Doretta Morrow, Richard Kiley, and Joan Diener ran for 583 performances in the 1953-54 season and won a Tony Award. As none of those worthy performers were movie names, Arthur Freed recast the film with MGM players Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone, and Dolores Gray and I've sure got no complaints about any one of them. But Kismet has an older an more varied history. It was first presented on Broadway as a straight dramatic play in 1911, written by Edward Knoblauch and providing a career role as Hajj the beggar king for Otis Skinner.

He must have done the role a gazillion times on Broadway and in touring companies. Skinner even did two films, a silent and early sound version that I believe are both lost. It then got a film version with Ronald Colman as Hajj and it co-starred Marlene Dietrich, James Craig and Joy Page. Colman spoke the lines in the inimitable Colman fashion, but the music score that Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg wrote was singularly bland. Nothing bland about the themes of Alexander Borodin which Robert Wright and Chet Forrest arranged and wrote lyrics for to provide a far better musical score. Two songs, Strangers In Paradise and Baubles Bangles And Beads were chart toppers in the first half of the Fifties. I well remember as a child hearing both played on the radio a lot. The plot of the story centers around the nimble tongued Keel as Hajj who gets himself involved in palace politics with the Wazir/Prime Minister of the old Caliphate of Bagdad played by Sebastian Cabot and his wife Dolores Gray who's taken a real fancy to Keel.

At the same time the Caliph on one of his nocturnal wanderings of legend has fallen for Keel's daughter Ann Blyth. The Caliph is played by Vic Damone. Both plot elements come together for an inevitable conclusion which I think you can figure out. Vincente Minnelli did a great directing this old chestnut, impeccably cast with great musical performers. Songwriting because of who inspired it, doesn't get any better than this. Was the above review useful to you? 12 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Great Movie from Groton, CT 13 November 2004 I saw this movie version and have always loved it. I also saw the stage version, but who could be better than Howard Keel. I felt like a "Stranger In Paradise." I have always been a movie musical buff and a big fan of Mr. Keel. When I first saw the movie as a child, I felt transported back to that time period (even if it was a Hollywood movie). The beautiful music and romance contained within makes you feel wonderful.

And you can imagine all the romance, adventure and "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" you could ever wish for and all in the time and space of this lovely movie with beautiful music. Thank you Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone and company for one of my favorite movie memories. Was the above review useful to you? 8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: This is a much better version of KISMET than the VHS 10 April 2008 *** This review may contain spoilers *** Apparently some of the disgust a handful of readers have been feeling about this movie is due to the fact that they have the old VHS version. The new DVD version restores the original theatrical ratio, and the result is simply stunning: the movie is much clearer that it was in the full screen form, and restores the more lavish numbers to their full glory - there are more extras in there than anyone who has seen the original VHS version realizes; it's not a very small cast at all! True, the original finale is replaced by Howard Keel's version of "The Sands Of Time," the song that opened and closed the original Broadway musical, but that hardly matters.

I have seen scenes from the VHS version on GOOGLE Video, and they are faded and grainy, while the DVD version is bright and colorful - you MUST watch it. Was the above review useful to you? 10 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Harum Scarum from Australia 23 February 2004 Thanks to the mega surprise success of SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, and the income of $7m in rentals (wow!) MGM lurched into a series of 'robust' macho musicals: ATHENA, ROSE MARIE, HIT THE DECK, and the best of all: IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER. KISMET today, 50 years later, it is best enjoyed knowing it came from that mindset and is a product of a lavish budget itself: $2.6m. Like all those above it made money, but only just. In 2004 it is the production values and the music/dancing that is sensational and compared to modern film production quality is positively a masterpiece. I am sure even Madonna has seen this because the Market Place dance number is certainly recycled into her music video imagery.

Dolores Gray is suitably brassy and the absolutely awesome NIGHT OF MY NIGHTS number with Vic Damone is one of the most visually enchanting set pieces committed to film ever. Try and see it in cinema scope, as pan/scan TV prints cut the sides off and the impressive visuals are crippled. It's quite rude too. Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 4: Kismet the Musical ENO London Coliseum - Opened 1 Jun 2007, closed 1 Jan 1970 Cast: Michael Ball and Alfie Boe What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box Synopsis In Baghdad, a poet sits outside a Mosque attempting to sell his verses. His daughter Marsinah attempts to help him but goes off the Bazaar to steal her breakfast. As the poet begins to beg, he curses those who do not give him money. Jawan kidnaps him thinking he is Hajj and demands he lift a curse placed on him 15 years ago, resulting in the loss of his son. The poet sees an opportunity and pretends to do so in return for 100 golden pieces.

The evil Wazir enters along with his seductive wife-of-wives Lalume and they discuss a loan that he needs. In return for the money that has been lent from the King of Ababu, the Caliph has to marry one or all three of the Princesses of Ababu. The Princesses tell Lalume they wish to return home. Marsinah is chased by a market seller who knows she has stolen from them. Her father bails her out and gives his daughter half of the money. Whilst she considers how to spend it, the Caliph, who has disguised himself is taken with her beauty. The poet is arrested for setaling as Marsinah has found a house for her and her father to live. The Caliph disguises himself as a gardener and enters the house and the two instantly fall in love. They promise to meet later by moonlight. Hajj is on trial for stealing and the Wazir sentences him to lashes and his right hand cut off. He begs that as a poet this will ruin his career. Lalume is attracted to the poet and begs the Wazir to spare him just as Jawan is brought in and it is revealed that the Wazir is his son.

Jawan praises the poet and his ability to lift curses, but the Wazir sentences his own father to death. The Wazir is worried that the poet has cursed him and is about to kill him when the Caliph enters and says he has found a bride that he will marry that evening. The Wazir realises that if the Caliph doesn’t marry one of his daughters then his life will be ruined. He begs Hajj to right this wrong with his magic powers, promising him a reprieve and an important title. Hajj agrees and causes a diversion, escaping and leaving the Wazir with his cloak. The Caliph sets off to be married but Marsinah thinks only of the gardener. Hajj returns and says they must flee but she refuses to go. They fight and run off, meaning that the Caliph enters the garden and finds his love not ther. The Wazir finds out that the bride has gone and thinks that Hajj’s magic has worked. He tells his wife to make Hajj happy and gives him the title of Emir.

The Caliph tells the Wazir that they must find his love just as Marsinah enters with the Harem and asks her father to help find her love. The Caliph sees Marsinah in the Harem and is upset that she is apart of the Wazir’s troop. The Wazir claims her as one of his wives. He is heartbroken and finally agrees to choose his wive-of-wives that evening. The Wazir marries Marsinah against her will. The candidates for the Caliph’s hand dance for him but he is unmoved. Hajj realises what has happened and takes a blank plaque from his turban and throws it into the pool. He says that when it is retrieved, it will say the name of his intended bride. As The Wazir enters the pool, Hajj holds him underwater until he drowns. The Caliph realises what has happened and is reunited with Marsinah. Hajj is reunited with Lalume and is banished to an Oasis with her. Songs And This Is My Beloved The Olive Tree

Question: Which city is the setting of 1950s musical Kismet?
Answer: Baghdad