Preparing to go up against the queen of camp on Broadway, Tab Hunter got his share of campy experience in this elaborate spectacle that while luscious to look at is the epitome of ridiculousness, starting with his casting. Since Donald O'Connor had just played Aladdin in a gloriously bad film, why not Tab? After all, aren't all men named Hassan blonde haired and blue eyed?
He's in a similar plot to what Universal had been doing in those Technicolor Jon Hall/Maria Montez films of the 1940's, hoping to win the hand of Princess Rossana Podestà so he can become caliph and replace evil regent Mario Feliciani. The assistance of some comical genies comes to his aide, and that leads to some very colorful adventures although the film turns black and white out of the blue which takes away from the magical elements.
There's no doubt that Hunter will get past the evil plotting of the regent to take him out, but why spoil all the fun since there's some decent special effects along the way and the film succeeds in achieving its goal. This certainly is better from a nostalgic point of view than an artistic one, and it's certainly not mentally taxing to watch. Going from various ancient cultures to another also provides some great visuals. Definitely a great popcorn movie with plenty of intended laughs and guilty ones for the obvious bad taste in certain clichéd elements.
He's in a similar plot to what Universal had been doing in those Technicolor Jon Hall/Maria Montez films of the 1940's, hoping to win the hand of Princess Rossana Podestà so he can become caliph and replace evil regent Mario Feliciani. The assistance of some comical genies comes to his aide, and that leads to some very colorful adventures although the film turns black and white out of the blue which takes away from the magical elements.
There's no doubt that Hunter will get past the evil plotting of the regent to take him out, but why spoil all the fun since there's some decent special effects along the way and the film succeeds in achieving its goal. This certainly is better from a nostalgic point of view than an artistic one, and it's certainly not mentally taxing to watch. Going from various ancient cultures to another also provides some great visuals. Definitely a great popcorn movie with plenty of intended laughs and guilty ones for the obvious bad taste in certain clichéd elements.