The Magic Carpet, starring Lucille Ball | clown ministry

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movie review of The Magic Carpet, starring Lucille Ball and John Agar

I’ve just finished watching The Magic Carpet with my children, having DVR’ed it earlier. How can I describe this movie? The word “cheesy” comes to mind; it’s a very typical Arabian Nights-style story, with an evil man overthrowing (and killing) the Caliph of the land, in order to seize control. The Caliph’s wife, however, manages to send their baby son to safety on the “magic carpet” where he’s raised by a relative, without knowing his true identity. He grows up, and on his own leads a Robin Hood-style insurrection against the evil, opressive Caliph.

So, where does Lucille Ball fit into this? In a secondary role as the Caliph’s pretty, scheming, bored sister. It’s not a comedic role, but Lucy does her part well, as does the equally evil Grand Vizier, played by ... Raymond Burr, TV’s Perry Mason. The special effects are “cheezy”, as is the dialog, It was fun to watch with my children, as we laughed at the ‘serious’ movie together, but it’s not a comedy, and I frankly wouldn’t pay to watch it—but it was a bit of a treat to watch it on Turner Classic Movies.

Trivia about The Magic Carpet

Lucille Ball had often complained to Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn about the quality of the pictures she had been doing while under contract to the studio. At the time this picture was made, Ball was only obligated to Columbia for one more film, and Cohn had producer Sam Katzman, who turned out most of Columbia’s low-budget “B” pictures, concoct this cheap Arabian Nights fantasy as a punishment to Ball for her constantly challenging him to give her better roles.
Lucille Ball was pregnant during filming.

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