Great Film overall

Best movie ever!

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Those of you who know me know that the musical is one of my favorite film genres. I bought the obscure film The French Line sight unseen because I'd heard one cute song from it, and once I watched Guys and Dolls twice in a week. I don't know why it took me so long to finally watch the film version of Kismet, but I only saw it for the first time a few months ago. Howard Keel, in the lead role as a glib poet able to talk-or sing-his way out of any predicament, is really incredible. He performs the show-stopping number "Gesticulate" as only he could: stylized, over-the-top but still accessible, and with charm but without conceit. He carries the movie, outclassing his costars by head and shoulders, but since he's in so much of the film, it doesn't really matter that the scenes he's not in drag a little. The romantic leads, Ann Blyth and Vic Damone, aren't particularly interesting, and they don't sparkle with chemistry the way Howard Keel and Dolores Gray do. If your favorite songs in Kismet are the ballads "Stranger in Paradise" and "This Is My Beloved," you'll be severely disappointed in this movie. If you don't really care about two young kids in love and prefer more upbeat tunes, you'll be fine.Don't laugh, but my favorite song in the show was Dolores Gray's dazzling number "Not Since Nineveh". The reason this musical isn't watched or performed anymore is because you just can't give rousing applause to a song that starts with the line "Baghdad! Don't under-estimate Baghad!" However, if you're able to put foreign affairs aside-which is essential if you're going to sit down and watch Kismet-Dolores's song is fantastic. She's beautiful and has a stunning figure, clad in inventive costumes by Tony Duquette, and she has a very nice alto voice that sells a song beautifully. Between her and Howard, it's easy to forget anyone else is even in the movie!For musical aficionados, you should probably check out Kismet if you haven't already. You'll hear some beautiful singing-not by Vic Damone, though-and watch some incredible dancing by Reiko Sato, Patricia Dunn, and Wonci Lui. Plus, the story is very fast-paced, clever, and entertaining, a feature not always included in a musical comedy. Even without the songs, it would still be an interesting movie.

One of the last big MGM musicals, and who expected they would return to the 1929 early talkie format?...nail the camera to a seat in the 10th row, have people stand around and talk--and then move over here and talk some more, don't edit out anything no matter superfluous or expendable it is, let everyone give hammy Vaudeville performances, and stage completely static musical numbers (there's even a pageant...like out of an old Ziegfeld show). It's as though there had been NO advances in film-making in the previous 20 years.On the upside...the score is excellent, and if you rent the 2008 DVD (contained in "Musicals from The Dream Factory Vol 3"), you will get a sense of what real, movie palace stereo used to sound like. Also, like most early Cinemascope movies, it is super duper wide, which is always thrilling to look at on a widescreen TV (even if the subject matter is as anemic as this). Note the gaudy costumes...designed by none other than Tony Duquette, the famed interior designer.

Back in the 70's, Eartha Kitt, Melba Moore and a young Obba Babatunde among others, starred on Broadway, in a lavish all black adaptation of Kismet. It was called Timbuktu. I enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, it seems as though there is no film record of this glorious adaptation. So I will have to carry it's memory around in my heart.It wasn't until the early 80's that I managed to catch Kismet on late night TV. Despite the fact that I saw them in reverse order, Kismet did come first. And although my perception of it's charms are colored by my prior exposure to Timbuktu, I must say that Howard Keel and his fellow cast members deliver outstanding performances.I highly recommend it.

This is a wonderful film version of the stage musical. Vincent Minnelli does a great job keeping the film entertaining and sexy. Kismet has one of Howard Keel's best performances in singing and acting. Dolores Gray is stunning! Ann Blythe is beautiful. Vic Damone is the weak actor in the film. It is not his fault, his vocal quality is not legit enough for "Stranger in Paradise".Sebastian Cabot, Mr. French from Family Affair fame, plays the Wazir with a sense of buffoonery which is perfect. The music is based on the themes of Borodin so you can't go wrong. The dancers are awesome and the choreography is dead on perfect. An MGM classic musical still waiting a release on DVD.