Kismet Overview:

Kismet (1955) was a Adventure - Musical Film directed by Stanley Donen and Vincente Minnelli and produced by Arthur Freed.

Academy Awards 1944 --- Ceremony Number 17 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Daniel B. Cathcart; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Richard Nominated
Best CinematographyCharles RosherNominated
Best Music - ScoringHerbert StothartNominated
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BlogHub Articles:

Fun Size Review: Kismet (1920)

By Fritzi Kramer on Sep 30, 2014 From Movies Silently

By Fritzi Kramer on September 30, 2014 in Blog, Fun Size Review Not your typical hero. Ha! Thought it was a musical, didn’t you? Well, Kismet was a stage play and a silent film first. This version stars popular theatrical leading man Otis Skinner. It’s surprisingly good (silent Hollywood... Read full article


Kismet (1920) A Silent Film Review

By Fritzi Kramer on Mar 9, 2014 From Movies Silently

By Fritzi Kramer on March 9, 2014 in Blog, Feature, Silent Movie Review A?beggar, a caliph and a bandit find themselves enmeshed in a very strange adventure. Secret romances, revenge and murder all play a part. With a scruffy protagonist and the love story pushed to the background, you can think of ... Read full article


Kismet (1955)

By Cameron on Nov 29, 2013 From The Blonde At The Film

Kismet is an Arabian nights musical- spectacle, spectacularly stretched in CinemaScope and spectacularly drenched in bold Eastman Color. It was based on a highly successful Broadway show, which in turn was based on Edward Knoblock’s 1911 play. ?This play inspired several film versions, includi... Read full article


Kismet (1955)

By Cameron on Nov 29, 2013 From The Blonde At The Film

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/789/Kismet/#tcmarcp-160980 ? Unless otherwise noted, all images are my own. Kismet is an Arabian nights musical- spectacle, spectacularly stretched in CinemaScope and spectacularly drenched in bold Eastman Color. It was based on a highly successful Broadway show, which... Read full article


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Quotes from

The Poet: May your taxes increase!
[Said when acting as a beggar to get the Baghdad merchants to give him alms]


Marsinah: [on being told that the Wazir intends to visit her room that night] If you do I'll kill myself, I swear it!
Wazir: Really? It'll be one of the most interesting wedding nights I've had in years.


Chief Policeman: [Hajj the poet has just been sentenced by the Wazir, and the Chief Policeman enters to find him and Lalume, the Wazir's wife, kissing] Is that his sentence?


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Facts about

The original Broadway production of "Kismet" opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York on December 3, 1953, ran for 583 performances and won the 1954 Tony Award for the Best Musical.
Future mega-successful TV producer Aaron Spelling (Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Dynasty) appears uncredited as a beggar. Spelling wrote in his memoirs that this role made him decide to give up acting. Director Vincente Minnelli always said he was responsible for Spelling's career as a successful TV producer and told him: "Had I not put you in 'Kismet', you'd still be an actor somewhere."
It was Vernon Duke who suggested Bob Wright and Chet Forrest use the music of Aleksandr Borodin as a basis for their score.
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Best Music - Scoring Oscar 1944

































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Also directed by Vincente Minnelli




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Also produced by Arthur Freed




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Also released in 1955




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