Song Of Scheherazade

Song Of Scheherazade, I am glad to see that at least a few other people know and remember this film.It’s always been hard to find,and I doubt that it will ever come out on DVD. I became acquainted with it in the early 60’s when it would crop up time to time on the Four O’Clock Movies,which my friends and I used to watch after school.It took me years to find out the title,and years more to find the actual film.It’s wonderful Hollywood Technocolor Hokum,and always fun to see.Aumont plays Rimsky-Korsakov with great warmth(seemingly in great contradiction to any portraits I have ever seen of the composer.)The music is exotic and wonderful of course,as Rimsky-Korsakov was a master of lush orchestration and beautiful Romantic themes.But the real gem is Eve Arden’s droll performance which lifts the film above the ordinary.Inspired silliness,and the addition of the spectacular Russian concert finale is nice.

The story line is a little too drawn out, but well balanced as a while, with quite a few amusing and touching parts. The costumes, sets and choreography are remarkable, as only the films of that era could be.