Harum Scarum (1965)

Only Elvis fans, and big ones at that would probably be the only viewers willing to give this musical comedy burlesque a spin. Made cheaply on the MGM lot it is a fantasy with songs about an American movie star who gets caught up in a plot to assassinate the king of a ancient Arabian kingdom. The plot is the sort of thing that worked for Rudolph Valentino, so why not Elvis?. No one is really taking any of this movie seriously least of all the star while his co stars are happy just to be working. Like all the Elvis movies of the 60's this made money despite very weak production values and timid list of songs, except for one "So Close Yet So Far" written by Joe Byers this is one of the least known most under rated songs ever to be recorded by Elvis, and it has long been a big favourite with me. Watched with a sense of humour "Harum Scarum" known to us in the UK as "Harem Holiday" the title of the opening song, this is a terrible movie so bad that it must be one of history's greatest bad movies, and brilliantly entertaining for being just that, it really is a hoot. I love It!

"Harum Scarum" gives even second-rate Elvis movies a bad name. If you're counting, Harum Scarum" was Elvis' nineteenth opus, coming between "Tickle Me" and "Frankie and Johnny." Reportedly lensed in a mere 18 days, "Harem Scarum" combines routine musical numbers with a pedestrian Arabian Nights adventure. Virtually everything about "Kissin' Cousins" director Gene Nelson's atrocious epic reeks of inconsistency. Not for an instant is anything about it believable. One minute everything is light-hearted nonsense, and then the next minute, everything becomes serious. Only the villain dies, and he perishes in a burst of machine gun fire. Inevitably, Elvis croons some lackluster tunes. This forgettable Sam Katzman produced potboiler unfolds in an imaginary Middle East that has little to do with the real Middle East. Mind you, for the sake of cost-cutting, everything was shot on back-lot MGM soundstages instead of actual locations in the Middle East. American celebrity superstar Johnny Tyrone (Elvis Presley) has agreed to represent the U.S. State Department on a goodwill tour of the Arab nation of Babalstan. The Ambassador and he have arranged a premiere of his latest cinematic swashbuckling saga "Sands of the Desert," for a well-heeled audience of dignitaries and their dates. These misguided people actually believe that the on-screen Elvis hero is as formidable as the off-screen Elvis. Elvis relies on his considerable karate skills to dispose of a leopard that stands between him and a bound princess in the movie shown them.Oxford educated scenarist Gerald Drayson Adams had earlier written swashbucklers like "The Golden Horde," "The Desert Hawk," and "The Prince Was A Thief," so he knew all the right tropes to cover. He serves up clichés galore as our handsome, dark-haired hero accepts an invitation from sinister Prince Dragna (Michael Ansara of "Sol Madrid") to enjoy the hospitality of his older brother King Toranshah in Lunarland. Not-surprisingly, his fictional country is surrounded by rock formations know as the Mountains of the Moon. Predictably, U.S. Ambassador McCord (Hugh Sanders of "Mr. 880") is flabbergasted by Prince Dragna's gracious offer. "Johnny, this is a tremendous honor. Do you realize that you're the first American His Majesty, King Toranshah, has ever invited into his kingdom?" Dragna's date Aishah (Fran Jeffries) provides additional information for Johnny's benefit, "When you cross theMountains of the Moon into our country, Mr. Tyronne, you'll be stepping back 2,000 years. You will find the pageantry and beauty almost unbelievable." Strangely enough, the villains in Lunarland carry vintage World War II British sub-machine guns so 20th century smugglers must have penetrated its boundaries. No sooner has he flown over a rugged range of mountains and ridden on horseback through the wilderness does Johnny find himself drugged by the beautiful Aishah, abducted by the notorious Arab Sinan (a bald-headed Theo Marcuse), chief of a band of Assassins, and forced to assassinate King Toranshah (Phillip Reed) so Prince Dragna can negotiate oil deals. Of course, Elvis falls in love with Toranshah's daughter, the gorgeous Princess Shalimar (former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley), but he entangled himself in local intrigue with a con artist Zacha (Jay Novello) and his band of thieves. Long-time Elvis bodyguard Red West plays one of Sinan's henchmen. Naturally, the girls look sexy, the surroundings brightly lighted, and script about as serious as a comedy. Only the most die-hard Elvis fans will find this palatable, and the King warbles his way through this crap without a shred of credibility.

While this may be considered a typical Elvis movie I think it is not that good but it is a bit entertaining. There are the usual girls in what is skimpy costumes for the time, songs, music, and humorous scenes. Billy Barty is a rather unskillful cut purse who is also funny. Seems rather odd that almost all the Arabs are white and speak accent free English. Elvis uses what is suppose to be karate. If it is I could teach it with no training!! It is probably the hokiest part of the film. The assassins are a joke. Michael Ansara is a prince in league with the assassins trying to take over the tiny isolated country. This country shows many of the things that I think are still wrong with the Arabs. Slavery, women as property. I personally found the scene with Elvis singing a romantic song while the little nine year old girl danced what would have a provocative dance by an grown woman uncomfortable to watch. Almost kiddie porn with her dress slit to her waist and her dance moves. I have read that Elvis liked them around 14, but that was even younger. The princess and Elvis do the usual falling in love at first sight. Elvis, the princess, and the king are the only ones who go to save the two kids who are surrounded by the assassins. Yeah right!!! Since when ?!?! Jay Novello plays Zacha, a very opportunistic pay me and I am on your side,maybe, scoundrel. He is always looking for the easy ducat(s). Using the seamy peoples of the streets as an assault force Elvis and the king take the city back, chastise the bad prince, destroy the assassins, and of course Elvis gets the princess. The fighting to take the city back is the funniest part of the whole movie. The last thing I will comment on are the costumes that are worn. Talk about outre.

Usually, I am partial to Arabian Nights-type romps but, unfortunately, Elvis had better stuck to karate as the few, weak swashbuckling scenes he has in this film show that he is clearly no fencer and, what’s worse, this is undoubtedly the silliest vehicle I’ve seen of his so far, with a meaningless title to boot (no wonder it was changed to HAREM HOLIDAY – also the name of one of the tunes Presley sings in the film – in the U.K.); I guess the fact that the same writer-producer-director team who brought us the dismal KISSIN’ COUSINS (1964) was also behind this one should have been fair warning...The songs are all below-par and, lazily, there isn’t any attempt to give them the expected ethnic touch; one of them even has the star singing as a reflection in a pool imagined by the heroine – a Sultan’s daughter, naturally! As usual with this type of film, the villainess is far more interesting than the heroine but the sheer obviousness of the true identity of the duplicitous villain (Michael Ansara as the Sultan’s brother) is no help either. The would-be jokes involving the clash of cultures generally fall flat and Elvis’ annoying cohorts – a smarmy beggar and ubiquitous dwarf-thief Billy Barty – offer little respite from the generally desperate air of the whole production.