Babes in Bagdad (1952)

Now I always thought that a "Kadi" was a fellow who carried golf clubs, but no - it appears he is a man in Bagdad who has an harem of beautiful women. It's all going swimmingly for "Hassan" (John Boles) until the arrival of the disruptive "Kyra" (Paulette Goddard) who is abhorred by the way the women are treated and takes the unheard of step of complaining to the Caliph himself (MacDonald Parke). To add to his miseries, his ungrateful wretch of a godson - "Ezar" (Richard Ney) - proposes a wager that could indicate that women are every bit the equal of men - and he drags in the wily "Zohara" (Gypsy Rose Lee) to prove his point. What now ensues are a series of standard "Arabian Nights" style escapades with lots of veils, flowing dresses, and mischief as the poor old men are continually hoodwinked by their far more savvy antagonists. It's quite a breezy film with little effort made by anyone to enhance the rather basic look of it all. Wobbly sound stage sets and some truly wooden acting help to deliver the completely forgettable dialogue that passes eighty minutes before it ends and you forget all about it. It's not terrible, it's just a very light-weight attempt at comedy that has long since lost any punch it ever actually had.