The Adventures of Hajji Baba (1954)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Although most critics gave this movie the thumbs down (yes, there were actually some who praised it, including the Monthly Film Bulletin of all journals), and most contemporary patrons thought it at best mediocre fare, it has improved quite a bit with time. In fact, compared with the rubbish offered elsewhere on TV these days, it's actually rather good fun. It seems the astute producer, Walter Wanger, had the good sense to make the movie in two versions: CinemaScope and standard screen (so that theaters unequipped for Scope would not miss out). The latter of course is the version shown on TV. And very nice it looks indeed. The color, divorced from grainy CinemaScope, is appealingly sharp. The framing and compositions are more attractive too, being noticeably tighter than the rather loose widescreen line-ups. Admittedly, Don Weis was never much of a director, the acting is poor and the script juvenile stuff; but Thomas Gomez flings off his dialogue with a very agreeable gusto, Elaine Stewart makes a very decorative heroine and Mr. Derek looks suitably dashing. There are bevies of scantily-clad cuties scampering around and whenever things get even the slightest bit dull, Mr. Nat King Cole, accompanied by Nelson Riddle's orchestra, is whizzed on to liven things up — even under dialogue.

Priceless junk that is pretty much explained by its title. John Derek was a good looking man and at times an adequate actor but not here although the script such as it is doesn't really lend itself to major thesping. Elaine Stewart as the princess is even worse enacting her role with all the passion of a petulant schoolgirl and showing that her eventual participation in numerous game show as a hostess was probably the best use of her talents. The only cast member to emerge with any kind of distinction is Thomas Gomez who chews the high grade ham as an good hearted but opportunistic trader. The costumes are just about what you would expect from this sort of sword and sandal flick but keep an eye out at about the hour mark for a young slave maiden wearing what truly appears to be a mop on her head!! The most baffling aspect of the whole thing is that it has a score conducted by Nelson Riddle and an (awful) theme song sung by the great Nat King Cole that is repeated over and over again throughout the flick. Enjoyable once in a mindless colorful way.

This fantasy does indeed look sumptuous, and it is rendered in particularly eatable colour. But beauty is only skin deep, and this is otherwise a particularly ghastly addition to the endless stream of 50s overdressed and underwritten exotica.Performances are generally very junior at an Arabian Nights pantomime level, although a minor gaggle of lascivious cheesecake ladies in a permanent frenzy does cut a strikingly camp dash and stops things from getting too unbearably dull.Otherwise the most surprisingly redeeming factor is, for once in his career, the presence of John Derek; combining perfectly adequate Errol Flynn Jr-type physical heroics with an agreeably broad sense of self-parodic charade; a versatility very rarely displayed in any of his more 'serious' thespian outings.

A classic "B" movie from the 50's, this film features numerous women dressed up like a Vargas painting. I don't remember much about the movie other than a slave girl gets tied down to a table and the soles of her feet are lightly cropped, that Haji encounters a band of Amazon-style women warriors, and that Elaine Stewart's character is captured and bound to a frame until Haji comes to her rescue. No nudity, no harsh language, nothing offensive, just the usual damsels in distress. Since the film was made in the fifties, you can bet that those scanty costumes are sewn onto flesh-colored bodysuits. Still, the slave girl cropping is a bit risque for the time and may be worth seeing.