While searching for the elephant jewel (as opposed to the cobra jewel), poor servant boy Sabu (playing the same age even though he's obviously in his mid-30s) comes across a ring that when he rubs it brings up genie William Marshall ("Blacula"). An evil magician, In cahoots with the assistant to the caliph, wants to get his hands on the ring so he can increase his power, and in the process, deals with all sorts of magical powers, a gaggle of geese (one of whom has swallowed the ring) and of course the innocent elephant boy whose love for a poor girl who works in the street markets inspires him to fight a seemingly unbeatable foe.
Definitely made for the kiddy crowd, this programmer is Innocent but silly fun, certainly not original in any way and quite dated for the time it came out, ironically the same year that the Bowery Boys closed up shop. It's too bad that Allied artist didn't do this earlier. There could have been a series of Sabu films in the same vein as those dumb lugs from the lower east side. Sabu has maintained that innocent demeanor, but he is mature looking, beginning to resemble a younger Peter Lorre in Arab guise. Studio bound sets and cheap special effects (if you can call them special effects) as well as a very predictable ending, certainly no threat to the adventures that Sabu had done starting two decades before. Marshall is a commanding presence as the genie, and the actors playing the villains are delightedly hissible. At an hour, this certainly will not tax the brain.
Definitely made for the kiddy crowd, this programmer is Innocent but silly fun, certainly not original in any way and quite dated for the time it came out, ironically the same year that the Bowery Boys closed up shop. It's too bad that Allied artist didn't do this earlier. There could have been a series of Sabu films in the same vein as those dumb lugs from the lower east side. Sabu has maintained that innocent demeanor, but he is mature looking, beginning to resemble a younger Peter Lorre in Arab guise. Studio bound sets and cheap special effects (if you can call them special effects) as well as a very predictable ending, certainly no threat to the adventures that Sabu had done starting two decades before. Marshall is a commanding presence as the genie, and the actors playing the villains are delightedly hissible. At an hour, this certainly will not tax the brain.