AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Wizard-8 Credit has to go to the makers of this movie to step away from tradition and not make this retelling of the classic Aladdin story not totally serious, years before the Disney animated movie decided to more or less do the same. The tongue in cheek attitude does achieve some good results, the biggest and best being the casting of Phil Silvers as Aladdin's sidekick. He's a lot of fun, acting pretty goofy in most of his screen time. In fact, I kind of wished that Silvers had played the lead role rather than Cornel Wilde. I'm not saying that Wilde was a bad actor - he did show his talents in other movies - but in this particular adventure, he's made to come across as a kind of bland and generic Arabian Knights kind of hero. There's not much memorable about his character. Another problem with the movie is that there is not much in the way of action or special effects, something you've probably come to expect from movies of this kind. I'll admit the movie is never boring, it looks colorful and expensive, and with the humor the movie does manage to be kind of fun. But at the same time, you'll see hints of a movie whose full potential was not quite realized.

mark.waltz As if the Maria Montez/Jon Hall/Sabu color fests dealing with similar tales over at Universal weren't camp enough, Columbia gives us this "Hellzapoppin'" type spoof,a jive-talking', slang filled satire that is only missing Robert Hays responding, "Shirley, You Can't Be Serious!". From the moment the bespeckled Phil Silvers comes on screen (glasses weren't invented until 500 years after this takes place!), you know you are in for a wacky ride. His references to Lana Turner and television simply confirm that. Cornel Wilde is Aladdin, the handsome beefy hero who loves the Sultan's daughter (Adele Jergens) after invading her caravan and has won her love as well. But evil is afoot, and after dealing with giant Rex Ingram (repeating his role from "The Thief of Bagdad"), Wilde and Silvers find the lamp an evil sorcerer has sent them looking for, and find it contains the beautiful but wise-cracking Evelyn Keyes. As far removed from "Gone With the Wind's" Tara (where Keyes played Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister) as she could get, Keyes falls in love with Wilde and schemes in her teasing way to prevent him from winning the princess. The story cleverly utilizes aspects of the Arabian Knights tales ("New lamps for old", in particularly) with genuine satire, and is as colorful as the Rita Hayworth musicals that Columbia was turning out. In certain shots, Jergens seems to be photographed and made up exactly as Hayworth was in "Cover Girl".Columbia took a break from its string of Robin Hood adventure yarns for this sword & sandal fest, and came up with a winner. Wilde is a charming hero, Jergens a sweet but spunky princess, and Keyes going down Eve Arden territory with a touch of teenie bopper crush thrown in. Silvers provides some humor that may be considered dated, but some of his gags are timeless. There are enough villains to give Disney's "Aladdin's" Jafar a run for his money, although on closer examination, the plot of the movie resembles "The Lion King". The ending provides one of the funniest gags on screen imaginable.

holly Big colorful sets and fantasy costumes are featured in this hokey update to Alladin's Lamp that never takes itself seriously. Evelyn Keyes is adorable as the genie that no one but handsome Cornel Wilde can see, but he has eyes only for Adele Jergens as the blonde princess. Sidekick Phil Silvers has his eyes on every jewel in the palace. Of course there's a scheming Vizir and a Sultan switcharoo. A thief masquerades as a prince, and just about every other Arabian Nights cliché is given some sort of send up.Most of the comedy involves one of the secondary characters turning to the camera and saying something modern while the leads play it straight. Subplots (and villains) are invented then abruptly dropped, and cultural awareness seems unknown in 1940s Hollywood. If this sort of thing makes you cringe you will hate this film, but if you like pretty musical comedy in gorgeous Technicolor there's a lot here to like! The Princess is carried in a royal blue litter that matches her dress, and her bed is draped in sumptuous curtains the same color as her lilac gown. Harem girls flutter in pastels, and the brightly colored see-thru veils they use to cover their faces is merrily naive. Set pieces are few and far between but fabulous, and every other scene seems to take place on an ornate balcony. An authentic looking dance is a welcome distraction, and Silvers and Wilde share a bar sing-along about women (one for romance, the other against) that is campy fun.By the end it feels over-sweet like you've swallowed too much cake icing, but it moves along quickly and there's a happy ending for everyone even the genie. This film is in the same vein as Marlene Dietrich's version of KISMET (1944), which I highly recommend for its pastel harems and anachronistic Baghdad that never was.

preppy-3 Aladdin (Cornel Wilde) falls in love with Princess Armina (Adele Jergens). She loves him too but she can't marry a poor man. Aladdin finds a lantern, rubs it and our comes a female genie named Babs (Evelyn Keyes). Aladdin orders her to make him a rich prince so he will be able to marry the princess--but Babs starts to fall in love with Aladdin! Abdullah (Phil Silvers), Aladdin's buddy tags along.If you take the Arabian Nights stories seriously this will probably have you horrified. However if you take it for what it is (a fun, silly movie) you'll love it. It was shot in bright Technicolor with huge sets, a large cast and excellent special effects. It's obvious that Paramount spent a LOT of money on this. The script moves quickly and one-liners (mostly by Silvers) go flying left and right. Some of the lines are groaners but (more often than not) they're right on target.Acting--Wilde is tall, hunky and incredibly handsome. He even sings a few songs (!!!). Silvers could have very easily been annoying--but he's actually quite funny and full of life. Jergens and Keyes are both beautiful and good in their roles. Also Rex Ingram has a pointless (but interesting) cameo as another genie and Shelly Winters plays a harem girl! Cute, colorful, lavish and lots of fun. Worth catching. Perfect for the whole family.