One Arabian Night (Silent) (DVD)

A troupe of traveling circus performers arrives in the city of Baghdad. Among them are the exotic dancer, Janaia, and Abdullah, a deformed hunchback. The willful Janaia hopes to join the Sheikh's harem, oblivious to Abdullah's lust for her. Meanwhile, in the royal palace, the Sheikh's favorite slave girl, Zuleika, plots to marry the poor merchant Nour-ed-din. None of them realize that their fates will soon intertwine in a single night of passion, jealousy, and murder...

Adapted from a pantomime by Friedrich Freksa, One Arabian Night was originally released as Sumurun in Germany in 1920. A monumental production, it featured massive sets built at the UFA studios by Kurt Richter and Erno Metzner, as well as sumptuous costumes from Ali Hubert. It was the third collaboration between Ernst Lubitsch and Pola Negri, the previous being Carmen (1918; eventually released in America as Gypsy Blood) and Madame Dubarry (1919). Madame Dubarry had been such a success overseas that it convinced America to end the WWI-era embargo on German films, with First National releasing it as Passion in 1920. The studio would do the same for Sumurun in 1921, renaming it One Arabian Night. Mary Pickford was present for the premiere, and afterwards invited Lubitsch and Negri to Hollywood. The actress would have great success in films such as Forbidden Paradise (1924) and Hotel Imperial (1927) but her performances were sometimes obscured by headlines linking her romantically with high-profile paramours including Chaplin and Valentino. She returned to Germany in 1928. Lubitsch, however, was here to stay, and after establishing himself directing Pickford in Rosita (1923), he embarked on a long American career that encompassed some of the greatest films of the Golden Age of Hollywood. These included Trouble in Paradise (1932), Ninotchka (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), To Be or Not to Be (1942), and Heaven Can Wait (1943). While it was said that he had "the Lubitsch touch" when it came to his actors, one unfortunate side-effect of his move to the United States was the end of his own acting career. Lubitsch's portrayal of the tragic hunchback Abdullah in One Arabian Night is the most complete surviving testament to his talent as an actor. Paul Wegener, who plays the Old Sheikh, starred in another classic of the German cinema, The Golem (1915).

• silent