ID

FBW000955      Fiction

Country / Year

USA, 1944

Original Title

Action in Arabia

Other Title(s)

Danger in Damascus ans International Zone [AT]

Directed by

Léonide Moguy

Produced by

RKO (Radio Keith Orpheum) Radio Pictures, Inc., Los Angeles, CA / New York, NY

Staff

Producer: Maurice Geraghty; Dialoge direction: Robert Milton; Assistent director: Ruby Rosenberg; Script: Herbert J. Biberman, Philip MacDonald; Camera: J. Roy Hunt; Special optical effects: Vernon L. Walker; Editing: Robert Swink; Sound: Richard Van Hessen; Sound recording: James G. Stewart; Art direction: Albert S. D'Agostino, Alfred Herman; Technical consultant: Sami El Rafei; Set decoration: Claude E. Carpenter, Darrell Silvera; Costumes: Edward Stevenson; Makeup: Mel Berns; Music: Roy Webb, Leigh Harline; Musical direction: Constantin Bakaleinikoff; 2nd unit, director: Robert Wise

Cast

George Sanders (Michael Gordon); Virginia Bruce (Yvonne); Lenore Aubert (Mounirah Rashid); Gene Lockhart (Josef Danesco); Robert Armstrong (Matthew Reed); H.B. Warner (Abdul Rashid); Alan Napier (Latimer); Andre Charlot (André Leroux); Marcel Dalio (Chakka); Robert Anderson (William Chalmers); Jamiel Hasson (Kareem); John Hamilton (Mr. Hamilton); Rafael Storm (Hotel Clerk); Michael Ansara (Hamid); Abdullah Abbas (Arab Guard); Frank Arnold (French Gendarme); Maurice Brierre (Drunken Customer)); Buster Brodie (Bald-Headed Man); Fritz Brunn (als: Frederick Brunn) (Erlich); Roberta Daniel (Arab Servant); Marcel de la Brosse (French Croupier); Kay Dibbs (Servant); Ed Gering (Karl); Edmund Glover (Undersecretary); Frank Lackteen (Ali Omar); Keith Lawrence (Arab Porter); Jaques Lory (Arab Beggar); Phiroze Nazir (Haroun); Alex Papana (Pilot); Tony Patton (Husky Attendant); Eric Perge (Gendarme); Isaac Pesaro (Yussef); Francis Ravel (Rug Peddler); Georges Renavent (Prefect of Police); Peter Seal (Husky Attendant); Irene Seidner (Woman on Plane); Mahmud Shaikhaly (Selim); Shusheila Shakari (Arabian Dancer); George Sorel (French Sureté Agent); Bud Wiser; Rich Hogan

Length

2060,4 m / 75'19''

Format

35mm/sw/1:1,37

Dates

- 00 Oct 1943-21 Dec 1943: Shooting period
- 15 Feb 1944: Trade show
- 18 Feb 1944: Release date, New York, NY
- 18 Feb 1944: Premiere, New York, NY

Remarks

1. Location Footage of Nomadic Arab Life Shot on Location in 1937 by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper.

Further Remarks

- Tonsystem: RCA

Abstract

The American newspaper correspondent Gordon courts intrigue in 1941 Damascus, where Free French and German spies attempt to involve the Arab tribes in the war. Gordon falls in love with the mysterious Yvonne, then suspects her of being a Nazi agent before learning she is working with the French underground. The duo follows German agents to a desert castle where they meet with Arab sheiks who intend to deliver their tribesmen to the Axis side in return for heavy pay.

Subject Terms

Anti-Nazi films (US)

Bibliography

- Walt.: "Action in Arabia", in: Variety, 16.12.1944
- Nash, Ray R. / Ross, Stanley R. / Conelly, Robert B. (Ed.): Motion Picture Guide. Chicago, IL: Cinebooks, 1987