Kismet (1955)
directed by
written by
This movie doesn't get a lot of love, but we love it. Famous for two songs, "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" and "Stranger in Paradise" (like most of the music in the show it's adapted from original music by Alexander Borodin), it's got color, great sets and matte backgrounds, and above all, Howard Keel at his hammiest and Dolores Gray.
The plot is a bunch of fairytale silliness - a poor poet, because of the lies he spins to keep his daughter and himself fed, lead him to run afoul of first a bandit (Jay C. Flippen), and then the Wazir (Sebastian Cabot). His daughter (Ann Blyth) catches the eye of the Caliph (Vic Damone), and the poet himself and his wonderful lines of b.s. enthrall the terminally bored Lalume, wife of the Wazir.
Most of the other songs are solid, and, in particular Dolores Grays' two big numbers, Bored and Rahadlakum, are terrific. We're not the biggest musical watchers, but we do have a small, solid collection and this is one we're keeping there.
Verdict: a keeper
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| Howard Keel and Dolores Gray |
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