A Thousand and One Nights

On Saturday morning around 9 am, I watched 1001 Nights from 1945, starring Cornel Wilde and Phil Silvers. I love love love this movie, and most movies like it, like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) , Jason and the Argonauts(1963), Ali Babba and the 40 Thieves (1944), etc. I think I need to state up front that I do realize I have some of the worst taste in movies ever. I generally don’t like the movie experience. I get bored sitting in theaters, I talk through DVDs, I turn down most invitations to go see a movie, especially if its new and there might be a line. I am, however, totally addicted to campy films from Vincent Price horror, to 5 Deadly Venoms and other old-school kung-fu movies, to musicals like Brigadoon, etc, and I could possibly sit through them a million times.

But I digress. 1001 Nights is not run of the mill camp or cheese. Its utterly ridiculous yet completely fantastic in a way that is entirely it’s own. I can’t believe it was nominated for two Oscars in 1945, but it is a rare spectacle that deserves note . There is a 50 foot, cave-dwelling giant; Aladdin turns into a talking dog at one point and when in human form occasionally wears outfits that look like they were inspired by Faberge eggs; “Princess Armina”, Aladdin’s love, is a bleach blonde with finger waves; and the genie is a Lucille Ball wanna-be named “Babs”. I will not even get into the women’s outfits other to say that i didn’t know trampy pastel pageant wear was ever in vogue in 11th century Arabia or wherever this film was supposed to be set. Oh, and i almost forgot. Aladdin sings. His sidekick Abdullah, played by Phil Silvers, also sings. Frequently. That alone is worth the price of admission.

For me, one of the coolest parts about 1001 Nights was that the outdoor scenes were filmed at Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth and Vazquez Rocks in Agua Dulce…within exploration distance! I can possibly go see a part of movie history and maybe even locate the cave where Aladdin found the lamp. At least I’ll try to look for it the next time I’m at Stoney Point!

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1. Biking to the Music: Thursday Nights at the Santa Monica Pier

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