I’ve been hoping to do a post – or a series of posts – on the “Road to …” musical comedies featuring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour.
While I’m waiting to collect all the films and re-watch’em, Continue reading
Category Archives: Tits & Sand
Other People’s Pulps: Chandu the Magician (1932)
While I’m still trying to decide what I will watch for New Year’s Eve, I spent about an hour and a half having lots of fun with Chandu the Magician, a 1932 film directed by William Cameron Menzies and Marcel Varnel.
Maybe not exactly a Christmas movie, but quite a treat1.
Cobra Woman (1944)
There’s no sand, in Cobra Woman, the 1944 Universal movie that brought Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Sabu back to the screens after the success of Arabian Nights… so this is an anomalous entry in the Tits & Sand series.
Cobra Woman is a South Seas movie – and yes, that’s another genre we’ll have to keep an eye on, because it’s a fun, pulp sort of entertainment.
Directed by Robert Siodmak, Cobra Woman also features Lon Chaney Jr.1 in a small but foundamental role.
And yes, there’s also a big plastic cobra – somewhat embarrassing – but we’ll get to that.
Continue reading
Tits & Sand: Arabian Nights, 1942
Shot well before the tits & sand label was coined, Arabian Nights, directed by John Rawlins has all it needs to be listed in the genre.
Yes, there’s lots of sand, and star Maria Montez does show her graces in a number of lavish costumes.
A pity the story is so flimsy.
But we’ll get there.
Arabian Nights is one of the exotic movies featuring John Hall and Maria Montez poroduced in the ’40s by Universal pictures.
The first Technicolor feature produced by Universal in over a decade, the movie was designed to cash-in on the success of The Thief of Bagdad in 1940.
Both movies feature Sabu in a key role as the sidekick of the male lead. Continue reading
Tits & Sand: Maria Montez
If we talk about Technicolor epics in exotic, Arabian-Nights-style eastern locations – the stuff of Tits & Sand, if you will – we can’t ignore the beautiful Maria Montez.
Born María África Antonia García Vidal de Santo Silas in 19121 , daughter of the Spanish Consul in the Dominican Republic, Montez struck gold in Hollywood with a series of movies shot between 1942 and 1945, in which she was partnered with actor Jon Hall.
Tits & Sand Movies: Bagdad (1949)
And so I went and watched again Bagdad, the 1949 Maureen O’Hara movie that was at the origin of the Tits & Sand movie genre1, at least according to the fiery-headed star.
But despite the risque definition, this is a romantic adventure, featuring exotic locales, a meringue-light plot and the required amount of chases, swordplay and Arabian Nights clichés – despite pretending (without any conviction) to be a historical film.
Anyway – reader, I watched it.
Was it any good?
Karavansara 