Flame of Araby

CinemaSerf

Without leaving California, Maureen O'Hara and Jeff Chandler are transformed into characters from Arabian folklore, and like their faux-location they are not very authentic! She is "Tanya" - a feisty Tunisian princess who is doomed to marry one of the marauding Corsair pirates. Fortunately for her, though, the ever-wooden Chandler ("Tamerlane") is on hand. He is seeking "Shazada" - a stallion of great fame, and it may be that he and this great horse might be the only way of thwarting the dismal fate awaiting the trapped princess. The plot is actually quite fun, but the execution is really poor. There is no chemistry at all between the stars, the sets look like they have been made of polystyrene and the dialogue is about as banal as it is possible to be. This vein of fantasy and mythology ought to have provided for a much richer storyline, but somehow here everyone seems to be just going through the motions and what little action there is, is all too theatrically staged. Maybe nobody liked filming in the desert on a hot day? The advertising was in colour, the film in monochrome - that rather sums this whole thing up.