''Shéhérazade'' or ''Scorching Sands'' is a 1963

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by

Pierre Gaspard-Huit Pierre Gaspard-Huit (29 November 1917 – 1 May 2017) was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed the 1963 film '' Shéhérazade'', which starred Anna Karina. He was once married to actress Claudine Auger when she was 18, and he w ...

and starring

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; 23 September 1940 – 14 December 2019)

as the title character. The cast also featured

Gérard Barray Gérard Barray (2 November 1931 – 15 February 2024) was a French actor. Early life and education Gérard Barray was born in Toulouse on 2 November 1931. His parents split up quickly and his mother, who came from Montauban, decided to return t ...

, António Vilar and

Giuliano Gemma Giuliano Gemma (; 2 September 1938 – 1 October 2013) was an Italian actor. He is best known internationally for his work in Spaghetti Westerns, particularly for his performances as the title character in Duccio Tessari's '' A Pistol for Ringo'' ...

The film is loosely based on the ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition ( ...

''. The film's sets and costumes were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Georges Wakhévitch Georges Wakhévitch (; Georgy Leonidovich Vakhevich; August 18, 1907 in Odessa, Russian Empire – February 11, 1984 in Paris) was a Russian-born French art director. The son of a naval engineer, he immigrated to France in 1921. He grew up in Par ...

Plot

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

in the year 809. The city is ruled by the

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

, Haroun-al-Rashid, to whom the beautiful and spiritual

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...

has been promised. Ambassadors of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

arrive in Baghdad to ask the Caliph for free access to the Christian holy sites. Among these envoys from the west is the knight Renaud Villecroix, who falls in love with her. The grand

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

, enemy of the Caliph, ambushes a traveling party and takes Scheherazade prisoner, threatening to cut off her head. Renaud saves her and flees into the desert with her.

Cast

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; 23 September 1940 – 14 December 2019)

as Shéhérazade *

as Renaud de Villecroix * António Vilar as Haroun-al-Raschid *

as Didier *

Marilù Tolo Marilù Tolo (born Maria Lucia Tolo; 16 January 1944) is an Italian film actress. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1960 and 1985. Life and career Tolo was born in Rome, and at a very young age worked as an assistant of Mario Riva in ...

as Shirin *

Fausto Tozzi Fausto Tozzi (29 October 1921 – 10 December 1978) was an Italian film actor and screenwriter. He appeared in 70 films between 1951 and 1978. He wrote the script for '' The Defeated Victor'', which was entered into the 9th Berlin Internatio ...

as Barmak * Gil Vidal - Thierry *

Jorge Mistral Modesto Llosas Rosell (24 November 1920 – 20 April 1972), known professionally as Jorge Mistral, was a Spanish film actor. During the 1940s, he became a star in films produced by CIFESA. In the 1950s, he lived and worked in Mexico and appeare ...

as Grand Vizir Zaccar *

Fernando Rey Fernando Casado Arambillet (20 September 1917 – 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, international actor best known for hi ...

* Joëlle LaTour as Anira *

Rafael Albaicín Ignacio Rafael García Escudero (5 June 1919 – 3 September 1981), known as Rafael Albaicín, was a Spanish matador and film actor. In 1948 he began as matador in Las Ventas, taught by Cagancho. He also played the piano and violin, and he desi ...

* Karamoko Cisse * María Calvi *

José Calvo José Calvo (March 3, 1916 – May 16, 1980) was a Spanish film actor best known for his roles in western films and historical dramas. He made around 150 appearances mostly in films between 1952 and his death in 1980. He entered film in 1952 ...

* Félix Fernández * María Granada *

José Manuel Martín José Manuel Martín Pérez (24 May 1924 – 12 April 2006) was a Spanish film and television actor, radio broadcaster, and screenwriter. He was a popular character actor in Spanish cinema during the 1950s and 60s, best remembered for playing vi ...

(as J.M. Martín)

Release

The film was released in France on May 15, 1963. It was the 46th top-grossing film of 1963 in France, where it sold 1,375,848 tickets at the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

. In Poland, it sold more than tickets, making it one of the thirteen highest-grossing foreign films in Poland .

References

External links

* 1963 films 1963 adventure films 1960s French-language films Films based on One Thousand and One Nights Films directed by Pierre Gaspard-Huit Films produced by Serge Silberman Films set in 9th-century Abbasid Caliphate French historical adventure films Italian historical adventure films Spanish historical adventure films 1960s French films 1960s Italian films 1960s Spanish films Films scored by André Hossein Cultural depictions of Harun al-Rashid French-language historical adventure films {{1960s-adventure-film-stub