The Prince Who Was a Thief

I love this movie. Why do I like it so much? It is from the 50's when I was a little kid. Tony Curtis is in the movie....as an Arabian. (My friends like to comment on Tony's accent in Brooklynese in a role where it doesn't sound right... I don't notice.) He,(and Burt Lancaster, I think of together) was athletic, heroic and his youthful movies show a special promise, spirit that will pervade all of his movies. Piper Laurie is so thin and flexible.....she's awesome. Another Tony Curtis movie like this one is The Black Shield of Falworth. I recall seeing a Robin Hood sort of movie with Tony when I was young, perhaps that is partly why I like Tony and this movie. (What movie was it? I don't know. Maybe it wasn't Tony.) When he was older, a writer friend of my mother's met Tony and raved about how good looking he was and how nice. In the same vein as this movie, I also think of Burt's The Crimson Pirate.

Several years ago, many viewers rediscovered this lively, literate gem with script by Gera;d Drayson Adams, direction by Rudolph Mate. It was show as a rerun on a local TV Aos Angeles station hosted by Jackie Joseph, and ignoring critics who look down on all adventure genres, she and many of her crew fell in love with the movie. And why not? Theodore Dreiser's noted story has here been turned into a well-acted and entertaining movie; and master director Mate draws a very fine performance from a very young Piper Laurie indeed. The storyline is a sense-of-life piece, one where the hero, ably played (if one ignores his accent) by young, handsome Tony Curtis who has been raised by the thief who spared his life years before discovers that he is the rightful Prince of the kingdom. To save his adopted father from death, he helps him catch the man who has stolen the great pearl on which the safety of the city from a hostile army depends. This mission involves him with two women, Tina, thief, daughter of a thief played by Laurie and the princess, ably played by Peggie Castle; of course there are thefts, escapes, arguments, misunderstandings, fine dialogue scenes, a Guild of Jackals who are both help and hindrance and an usually satisfying climactic battle and denouement to a romantic ending. Admas' script is masterful, the direction very smooth, and all the technical aspects unusually satisfying, specially Hans J. Salter's music. Those in the cast besides the leads include talented Everett Sloane, Bettey Garde, Donald Randolph,Hayden Rourke, Marvin Miller, and Jeff Corey. There are some dancing girls seen here, but there are also scenes in the great souk, first-rate comedy, a robbing of the Treasury that is a classic caper, and enjoyably-three-dimensional characters. Favorite line--the Prince appoints his father to be the new keeper of the keeper of the new keeper of the Treasury--the Master of the Guild of Jackals. Colorful, abounding in action and very memorable, this treat is deserves to be a favorite with all those who enjoy uncomplicated adventure and the Grecianized-Near-eastern genre particularly.

Universal Studios provided many of this kind of features in the forties and fifties. After the magic duo Maria Montez - Jon Hall in the forties, who brought us in Arabia, ungles, paradise islands in the South Seas, the studio found Maureen O'Hara, Yvonne de Carlo, Piper Laurie, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, Rock Hudson, to replace the mythical duo of the previous decade. The early Tony Curtis career will be prolific with such movies; you can find him in THE SON OF ALI BABA, Rock Hudson in THE GOLDEN BLADE, Jeff Chandler in FLAME OF ARABIA. So this One Thousand and One Nights like tale is enchanted for old timers audiences in search of their childhood memory, colorful, full of romance and dance, action, beautiful indoor settings, palaces with pools.... No matter the naive and predictable topic. Just dream for a eighty five minutes.

Arabian Nights adventure style with glamorous gowns , noisy action , sword-play and dealing with a Prince who was a thief . More fabulous than the tales of the Arabian Nights , more exciting tan the travels of Marco Polo , more spectacular tan the splendors of Kublai Khan . In 13th-century Tangiers, regent Mustapha (Randolph) wishes the Caliphate's throne. Baby Prince Hussein is next in line to the throne but he is too young to rule . As Mustapha hires a paid assassin to kill baby Prince Hussein in order to usurp his throne but the alleged killer has second thoughts and takes the baby for himself. Yussef (Everett Sloane) raises the baby (grown-up is Tony Curtis) as his own and teaches him his peculiar skills . Here Tony Curtis is a valiant hero/thief of the people who comes to take his throne , being helped by Piper Laurie . As a thief swears to retrieve the throne and he is soon involved the twisted intrigue and mysterious plots .. A Legend In Battle! Her Kiss Of Surrender... The Prize Of Victory! .Exciting as an Arabian Night's Adventure!

This was an utterrly unexpected hit at boxoffice that shot Bernie Schwartz , alias Tony Curtis , and Rosetta Jacobs , alias Piper Laurie , to stardom , two sensational new young stars , at the time . Adventure and stirring movie set in North Africa , including bandits , schemers , astute rulers , gorgeous dancers , intriguing sheiks , romance and many other things . Another look at ¨The prince who wa a thief ¨ today reveals it to be a bit short on action but here outstanding the sympathetic and funny Rosetta Jacobs , alias Piper Laurie . Curtis plays a young boy to be one of the best thieves in Tangiers , using his cunning and shrewness he managed to spring from this ridiculous camp Oriental Adventure outing to stardom . Tony as the fearless thief is pretty well in this adventure set in ancient Tangiers , Curtis work is well up to his ordinary high standards , being inspired from the Arabic fairy tales of One Thousand and One Nights . He is well supported by Piper Laurie who really was a pretty package and she was worth the price of admission to see her , thanks to her gym skills and slithering throughout a maze of iron bars . Support cast is very good such as : Everett Sloane , Peggie Castle , Jeff Corey , Betty Garde , Marvin Miller and uncredited King Donovan , Susan Cabot and Larry Storch .

Universal International Pictures made a lot of Oriental adventures , being the main film ¨The Thief of Bagdad¨ by Raoul Walsh that created the Arabian subgenre , following Arabian nights 1942 by John Rawlins , Ali Baba and the forty thieves 1949 by Arthur Lubin , The Desert hawk 1950 by Frederick De Cordoba , The Golden Blade 1953 by Nathan Juran . And produced by other Production Companies as Kismet 1949 by William Dieterle , A thousand and one nights 1945 by Alfred E Green , Sinbad the sailor 1947 by Richard Wallace , The Magic Carpet 1951 by Lew Landers and some financed by Ray Harryhausen as 7th voyage of Sinbad by Nathan Juran and Captain Sinbad 1963 by Byron Haskin . Former camerman Rudolph Mate directs it all in stylish Technicolor .Polish-born (Cracovia) and passed away Beverly Hills (1964) Mate was an assistant cameraman for Alexander Korda and later worked throughout Europe with noted cameraman Karl Freund , director Carl Theodor Dreyer and Erich Pommer . Dreyer was so impressed with his work that they hired him as cinematographer on The Passion of Joan of Arc . Mate is considered to be one of the best cameramen of cinema story . Mate was soon working on some of Europe's most prestigious films, cementing his reputation as one of the continent's premier cinematographers. Hollywood came calling in 1935, and Mate shot films there for the next 12 years before turning to directing in 1947 . Unfortunately, while many of his directorial efforts were visually impressive ,especially his sci-fi ¨When the worlds collide¨ (1951) , his labour as cameraman was excellent . He realized a variety films of all kind of genres as Adventures : ¨The Black Shield of Falworth¨ , ¨Seven Seas to Calais¨ , Western about themes of card players on riverboat as ¨The Mississipi gambler¨(1963) and ¨The rawhide years¨(1956) and about conflicts between Indians and cavalry as ¨In the siege at Red River¨(1954) and Noir films : ¨Union Station¨ , ¨Second chance¨ . He also directed Epic films as ¨The Barbarians¨ and ¨The 300 Spartans¨ . The films themselves were for the most part undistinguished, with his best work probably being the film-noir classic ¨DOA¨ (1950). ¨Rating : Passable and acceptable , 6 . Well worth watching .

Am a huge fan of classic film and 'The Prince Who Was a Thief' interested me. Mainly to see a very young Piper Laurie and Tony Curtis in his tenth film (credited) in just three years, though his first film as the star, and how they would fare individually and as a partnership. Also because the story on paper seemed intriguing if silly.

Saw 'The Prince Who Was a Thief' with the mind-set of not expecting a masterpiece and just 90 or so minutes of escapist entertainment without expecting too much or everything to be of superb quality. 'The Prince Who Was a Thief' achieved this goal. It may not blow the mind and it may not be one of Curtis's best films or contain one of his best performances. A lot is done right however and it compels and entertains throughout its length, which didn't feel too long or too short.

The story sure is pure nonsense and the silliness occasionally goes overboard, complete with some over-familiarity. The costumes are somewhat unlikely and don't look as appealing, in colour and style, as the rest of the production values.

Curtis's accent is a bit of a stretch too.

However, he is at his most athletic and is both youthful and charming, clearly having fun with his role. Lovely Piper Laurie matches him in the charm factor and is equally spirited. Their chemistry has a real warmth and playfulness. Everett Sloane in particular has fun as a suitably hissable character of the more than able supporting cast. The script is not one with many surprises, but has wit and lively character. The direction has an efficiency that suits the adventurous element of the story perfectly.

It is very difficult to dislike the story completely. For all its ridiculousness and predictability, it is not a dull one and clips along at a breezy pace, with a clear idea at what it was trying to be and appeal to without trying to do more. The characters are archetypes but likeable ones. The action-oriented parts, especially towards the end, excite and the music is rousing. 'The Prince Who Was a Thief', costumes aside, is shot with vibrant colour and the setting exotic-looking if perhaps not evocative.

Overall, good fun. 7/10 Bethany Cox