Kismet (1955)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Vincente Minnelli
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Writers:

Edward Knoblock (non-musical play "Kismet") and
Charles Lederer (musical libretto) ...
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Release Date:

8 October 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Musical | Fantasy | Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Like a tale spun by Schehrazade, Kismet follows the remarkable and repeated changes of fortune that engulf a poor poet...

Plot Keywords:

Broadway Musical | Arabian Nights | 1001 Nights | Royal Romance | Based On Musical

Cast

Howard Keel	...	The Poet
Ann Blyth	...	Marsinah
Dolores Gray	...	Lalume
Vic Damone	...	The Caliph
Monty Woolley	...	Omar
Sebastian Cabot	...	Wazir
Jay C. Flippen	...	Jawan
Mike Mazurki	...	Chief Policeman
Jack Elam	...	Hassan-Ben
Ted de Corsia	...	Police subaltern
Reiko Sato	...	1st Princess of Ababu
Patricia Dunn	...	2nd Princess of Ababu
Wonci Lui	...	3rd Princess of Ababu
Julie Robinson	...	Zubbediya
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ray Aghayan	...	Brave Shopkeeper (uncredited)
Ed Agresti	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Richard Alameda	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Suzanne Ames	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Jan Arvan	...	Manservant (uncredited)
William Bagdad	...	Wholesaler (uncredited)
Ross Bagdasarian	...	Fevvol (uncredited)
Rama Bai	...	Plump Ayah (uncredited)
Nita Bieber	...	Samaris (uncredited)
John Bleifer	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Herman Boden	...	Dancer / Silk Merchant (uncredited)
David Bond	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
George Bruggeman	...	Wazir Guard (uncredited)
Buddy Bryant	...	Dancer / Silk Merchant (uncredited)
Barrie Chase	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Noel Cravat	...	Madman Merchant (uncredited)
Jack Dodds	...	Dancer / Silk Merchant (uncredited)
Jamie Farr	...	Orange Merchant (uncredited)
Vera Frances	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Louise Franklin	...	Dressmaker (uncredited)
Naji Gabbay	...	Nobleman / Muezzin (uncredited)
Chief Leonard George	...	Servant (uncredited)
Bernie Hamilton	...	Pearl Merchant (uncredited)
Jean Hartelle	...	Celebrant (uncredited)
Edmund Hashim	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Hilo Hattie	...	Ayah (uncredited)
David Hoffman	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Dulcy Jordan	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
George Keymas	...	Young Policeman (uncredited)
George Khoury	...	Bystander (uncredited)
Kimo	...	Executioner (uncredited)
June Kirby	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Marc Krah	...	Wholesaler (uncredited)
Walter Kray	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Norman Leavitt	...	Fig Vendor (uncredited)
Alan Lee	...	Worshipper (uncredited)
Luana Lee	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Vera Lee	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Virginia Lee	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Guy Manford	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
John Mansfield	...	Herald (uncredited)
Charles Mauu	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Mitchell	...	Slave Merchant (uncredited)
Leonard Mudie	...	Physician (uncredited)
Naji	...	Nobleman / Muezzin's Voice (uncredited)
Diana Norris	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Donna Norris	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Don Orlando	...	Wholesaler (uncredited)
Hamil Petroff	...	Dancer / Silk Merchant (uncredited)
Frank Radcliffe	...	Silk Merchant (uncredited)
Gloria Rhoads	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Phil Rich	...	Bangle Man (uncredited)
Herman Rudin	...	Silk Merchant (uncredited)
Sam Scar	...	Bystander (uncredited)
Norbert Schiller	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Pat Sheehan	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Reginald Lal Singh	...	Muezzin (uncredited)
Aaron Spelling	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Nick Thompson	...	Businessman with Jug (uncredited)
Arthur Tookoian	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Marie Tsien	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Dee Turnell	...	Harem Showgirl (uncredited)
Bruno VeSota	...	Wholesaler (uncredited)
Charles Wagenheim	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Mel Welles	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Marc Wilder	...	Dancer / Silk Merchant (uncredited)
Norman Wright	...	Nobleman (uncredited)

Directed by
Vincente Minnelli
Stanley Donen		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Edward Knoblock		non-musical play "Kismet" and
Charles Lederer		musical libretto &
Luther Davis		musical libretto
Charles Lederer		(screenplay) &
Luther Davis		(screenplay)

Produced by
Arthur Freed	....	producer

Cinematography by
Joseph Ruttenberg

Film Editing by
Adrienne Fazan

Art Direction by
E. Preston Ames		(as Preston Ames)
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
F. Keogh Gleason		(as Keogh Gleason)
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Tony Duquette

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Shanks	....	assistant director
Hank Moonjean	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Wesley C. Miller	....	recording supervisor (as Dr. Wesley C. Miller)

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Stunts
George Bruggeman	....	stunts (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Charles K. Hagedon	....	color consultant

Music Department
Jeff Alexander	....	conductor
Jeff Alexander	....	music supervisor
Aleksandr Borodin	....	composer: original themes (as Aleksander Borodin)
Alexander Courage	....	music arranger: orchestral music
Chet Forrest	....	music adaptor
Arthur Morton	....	music arranger: orchestral music
André Previn	....	conductor
André Previn	....	music supervisor
Conrad Salinger	....	music arranger: orchestral music
Robert Tucker	....	vocal supervisor
Bob Wright	....	music adaptor

Other crew
Jack Cole	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) | Stereo

Certification:

Finland:S

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

There was a number in the original musical called "Zubbediyah, Sameris' Dance" that was later excluded from the movie version; it was performed by Princess Zubbediyah, the woman who the Caliph was supposed to marry.

Quotes:

The Poet: May your taxes increase!
[Said when acting as a beggar to get the Baghdad merchants to give him alms]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "MGM Parade: (#1.14)" (1955)

Soundtrack:

Sands Of Time

The Most Under Rated Movie Musical of All Time

It's hard for me to believe that I saw many of these old M.G.M. musicals when they first came out when I was a teenager. I first saw Kismet with my cousin and sister in Jackson, Mississippi, and we loved it! I don't like repeating myself, but just because a Broadway star is in a hit musical on Broadway doesn't necessarily mean that they are good movie material. They just don't have the following in the movies to support a movie such as movies like Kismet, Hello Dolly, Gypsy, and Kiss Me, Kate which is considered a better movie than it was a Broadway show.

Kismet is glorious entertainment. Howard Keel is perfect as Hajj the Beggar and even though Ann Blyth was too old to be his daughter, you forgive that problem in casting. She never sang better and Vic Damone was great as the Prince. Thankfully, the songs "He's in Love" and "Was I Wazir" was cut from the film, but sadly, even though it was recorded and filmed "Rhymes Have I" was deleted from the movie. This should not have been. Maybe, some day, someone will restore this number in future Videos of Kismet.

You could not have cast anyone better than Delores Gray as Lalume, and the addition of her song "Bored" [not in the original play on Broadway] shows you don't have to be naked and obscene on the screen to get sex across to the audience as she sings her song and nearly seduces Howard Keel right on the spot, and could that woman sing!

The wonderful thing about this movie is that a Broadway orchestra can't bring out the wonderful music as it is really meant to be heard like a movie orchestra can. For the first time you hear all the music in its richest melodies and Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone, and Delores Gray are thousands time better in their performances than the broadway cast could ever be. "And This is My Beloved" is a much better version in the movie than the Broadway rendition which was much too operatic.

I remember that my cousin Margaret looked at me after Howard Keel sang "The Olive Tree" and she said that if her father ever looked at her the way Howard Keel looked at Ann Blyth, she'd run like hell. Let's face it! Any Blyth was old enough to be his lover and not his daughter, but you forgive the producers for the miscast, because as a whole the film is not miscast, but perfect!

It's just a shame that these films can't be seen on the large theater screens today with stereophonic sound the way they "should" be seen. Maybe, someday, someone will get the hint!

Kismet was and is glorious, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!