Mostly Blah Film with a Few Good Moments

Bagdad (1949) concerns an English-educated Bedouin princess who returns to learn her father has been murdered and finds herself in the company of a ruling Pasha who turns out to be corrupt. Various conflict ensues. The only actors with whom I was familiar in this film were Vincent Price and Maureen O’Hara although the name Fritz Leiber was familiar due to his son’s writing career.

The film is not notably good or bad. It beggars belief with all the blatant whitewashing. The white actors playing Middle Eastern characters don’t even bother to wear brown makeup, at least the main characters don’t, and Maureen O’Hara as Princess Marjan has her creamy skin and russet hair. Vincent Price plays Pasha Ali Nadim with his right eye glued down which was either by choice or due to an injury; there are different stories. As a result he doesn’t look as good as in his other films and isn’t able to be as expressive. Paul Christian plays Hassan, a prince in disguise who is not really worth mentioning.

Pasha Ali Nadim is an imperious and impatient character with a terrible habit of smacking people in the face, which he eventually does to Princess Marjan. I believe she is the only person he actually strikes twice. So, yes, a man does strike a woman in this movie and she doesn’t take it passively. As for other violence, there are the usual sword and gun battles, a few dead bodies but not too graphic. There is something about burying a couple of guys up to their necks and charging at them with lances, not shown close up but pretty terrible.

I wouldn’t recommend this film too highly to anybody; it is nothing special. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed in Vincent Price’s performance but the eye was so distracting I spent the entire film wondering what the hell was wrong with his eye. He has done a lot better in other films, not that he was totally bad here or anything, as he plays a great bad guy. He reported that a female camel fell in love with him on set, and who could blame her?

If I recommended this at all it would be to Maureen O’Hara fans, and I like Maureen O’Hara. She is gorgeous here, sings several songs beautifully, and does a keen gypsy dance. The film is not a total waste but not a must-see.