unbrokenmetal Arabian princess (redhead Maureen O'Hara indeed!) wants to avenge her father's death. He was killed by the Black Robes whose leader is unknown. She asks the Pasha (Vincent Price) for help and offers in turn to sing for him. I didn't like the singing as much as he did, apparently, but my favorite moment of the movie is when she fails to lure the main suspect Hassan (Swiss born Paul Hubschmid of "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" fame) into a trap. Vincent Price looks at her and says: "You're angry and annoyed. This gives rise to a very interesting question. Is it due to your unsatisfied desire for revenge on a blood-enemy, or only injured vanity because a man's instinct for danger blinded him to your undeniable charms?" Price could deliver mocking lines like that deliciously, it is always a pleasure to watch him. Anyhow, Paul Hubschmid stands tall (one head taller than everyone else except Price, that is) and claims his innocence. A trial in front of the tribes' leaders shall decide about that...An Oriental fantasy film in glorious Technicolor that celebrates every blue, red and green the camera can get hold of. "Bagdad" doesn't look real for a second with those carnival costumes and false beards, but it was fun all the way to me - 80 minutes is just the right length for a not-so-serious adventure.

L. Denis Brown Bagdad is a Hollywood B movie from the 1940's that was given an unusually generous budget which covered its production in Technicolor as well as the services of three actors already recognised as stars, Vincent Price, Maureen O'Hara and John Sutton. This presumably indicates the Studio bosses who approved production felt they had a better than average script, capable of generating a very successful movie. More realistically, the script was the turkey that prevented real success and with less generous budgetary decisions it would have sunk without trace within a few months of its release.Four extant IMDb User Comments on this film point out that Maureen O'Hara did not look like a Turkish Princess, an Arabian, an Iraqi, or a Bedouin Arab. These commentators were right in all four cases, she looked like the pale skin, redheaded Caucasian beauty she actually was. But two interesting observations follow - firstly the story in this film was so confused that, even among the relatively few comments already on this database, her character has been assigned four different nationalities; and secondly it seems strange the production budget could not even cover the cost of darkening her hair and skin (or that of co-stars Vincent Price , Paul Christian and John Sutton) - surely a minimal demand for the make-up department. Such discrepancies abound throughout this film and rob it of any validity as a serious work. Its setting is the pre-World War I Ottoman empire, but the language is (erratically) similar to the high society English of the early Georgian period and does not match the story any better than the makeup. The stars all appear to have been well aware of these deficiencies and, recognising that the film would almost certainly finish up being classified as a turkey, they decided not to attempt to compensate for them, but instead to overact outrageously -chewing up the scenery in grand style so that a fun time could be had by all. This type of film usually disappears quickly and totally soon after its release; instead Bagdad is still with us (both as a VHS tape and periodically on cable television) because they did this so effectively that, once we have accepted exactly what is being presented, we can still settle down and have a lot of fun watching it once in a while.It has been said this was Maureen O'Hara first real starring role. Most of her fans would not accept this, but it was one that provided her with an exceptional opportunity which she seized with both hands and feet. Not only beautiful but active and athletically graceful, she is a pleasure to watch. Her fiery temperament only adds to the fun, and watching her outwit all her very threatening adversaries probably appeals to most children of all ages. Vincent Price, as the deadliest of these, plays up to her as only he can. Overall this may not be the most convincing recipe for creating a collectible film, but after accepting its limitations (and with appropriate acknowledgments to some excellent work behind the camera) I must recognise that in this instance it appears to have largely succeeded. For me, a VCD of 'Bagdad' remains a minor but still enjoyable part of my home video collection, even though NOT to be found among my historical films.

ragosaal "Bagdadª is a terrible adventure film. Actually it doesn't catch your attention at all. The point is that not even kids who usually enjoy this sort of colorful desert action pieces, could be satisfied with this one. In fact you don't even care about how things will come out (tough you can guess easily).You also wonder how a respected actress like Maureen O'Hara could ever enter this thing; in fact if she wasn't in this film there would be definitely nothing to see (my 3 points rank are just for her undeniable beauty). Vincent Price enjoys himself as the villain but he doesn't add much to his brilliant gallery here.Just if you want to see gorgeous Maureen singing and dancing the arab way.

bkoganbing During the World War II years, maybe because the beginning of American involvement in the European theater was in North Africa, land of the Bedouins, movies with that exotic location became popular. Universal Pictures developed a star named Maria Montez who made a bundle for them in Arabian Nights and others.They built these sets on the back-lot for Maria and her Arabia exotica and rather than let them go to waste, Unviersal cranked out these things set in Africa/Arabia/Near East with increasing rapidity and diminishing credibility.Case in point Bagdad with it's leads being a redheaded colleen, a Swiss import, and a couple of classically trained actors both American and English.Maureen O'Hara knew what garbage she was making and overacts to the hilt. Her leading man was Swiss named Paul Hubschmid who had a successful career in Europe. They billed him in America for this Arabian picture as Paul Christian. His most notable film on this side of the Atlantic was The Beast from 20,000 fathoms.All I can say is that with his Viennese accent, Paul Christian SOUNDS as authentically Arabian as Maureen O'Hara looks with her red hair.Vincent Price also knows he's in something his descendants would cringe at if they saw it and he overacts outrageously as the corrupt Turkish Pasha of Bagdad.John Sutton was a fine player who was one of the slimiest villains ever put on the screen in Captain from Castile opposite Tyrone Power. Here, he like Price, knows that this Thanksgiving delicacy of a film will not be something he wants to be known for and he goes to town with scenery chewing.This is a camp classic to beat the Boys in that Band.