A silver-tongued poet and self-proclaimed "King of the Beggars" searches old Baghdad for a rich bachelor to marry his dreamy daughter, Marsinah. Along the way, he poses as the renowned sorcerer Hajj and gets in and out of scrapes with an elderly thief, a dim-witted wazir, and his wife. Meanwhile, his daughter develops feelings for a handsome caliph.
Costume
Dolores Gray's Lalume looks expensive and dangerous.
Production
Minnelli turns soundstage Baghdad into saturated fantasy.
Score
'Stranger in Paradise' still slaps, sorry to basicness.
Director
Vincente Minnelli
Howard Keel
The Poet
Ann Blyth
Marsinah
Dolores Gray
Lalume
Vic Damone
Caliph
Monty Woolley
Omar
Sebastian Cabot
Wazir
Jay C. Flippen
Jawan
Mike Mazurki
Chief Policeman
Jack Elam
Hasan-Ben
Ted de Corsia
Police Sub-altern
Pat Sheehan
Harem Girl (uncredited)
Reiko Sato
1st Princess of Ababu (uncredited)
Bernie Hamilton
Pearl Merchant (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Vincente Minnelli shot this simultaneously with 'Lust for Life,' commuting between Technicolor Baghdad and Van Gogh's madness.
The 1953 Broadway production won the Tony for Best Musical; this film version arrived as movie musicals were already dying.
US
