laureatedvd.com

[Christoph Nestel]

Italian animated feature film LA ROSA DI BAGDAD

http://www.avofilm.it/dvdr/9068.html

was directed by Anton Gino Domeneghini and finally completed in 1949 after several years of work.


The same year I FRATELLI DINAMITE

http://www.fiafnet.org/es/news/shownews.cfm?id=104

by Toni and Nino Pagot was released in Italy after a similar time of production. So these two movies together deserve the entry in movie history as the first full-length Italian animated feature films produced in Technicolor.


Although I FRATELLI DINAMITE never seem to has had forein language versions and worldwide distribution (the Italian DVD has English subs btw), it was different with Domeneghinis film.


In 1952 LA ROSA DI BAGDAD was dubbed into English in Britain and released in the UK as THE ROSE OF BAGDAD. Then 17-year-old Julie Andrews provided the voice and singing for the princess, far away from being My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins. It is said that Howard Marion Crawford, perhaps best remembered as Nayland Smiths' comrade Dr. Petrie in the British 60s FU MAN CHU series starring Christopher Lee, was the English narrator. www.imdb.com credits Crawford, too. In 1952 also a German dub was produced and released as DIE ROSE VON BAGDAD aka DER ZAUBERER UND DIE PRINZESSIN (The Magician and the Princess). The German dub seems to be a lost film today.


It took until 1967 for LA ROSA DI BAGDAD to get its release in the US (possibly on TV only), now re-titeled as THE SINGING PRINCESS. The advertising promoted Julie Andrews, who was at the height of her career by then. So one would think, the 1952 British dub was used for the 1967 American release. But Crawford as narrotor is said to have been replaced by Boris Karloff in 1967 uncredited:

http://www.kiddiematinee.com/s-sprincess.html


So who knows about THE ROSE OF BAGDAD and THE SINGING PRINCESS ? Are there two different English versions existing which just have in common Julie Andrews or just differ by Crawford/Karloff narration ? Is there really a Crawford and a Karloff narration existing or is one a mistake ? Does anybody have full listings of the English voice actors ? I only have an almost complete bill of the Italian cast.


Is THE ROSE OF BAGDAD still known in Britain today (as it seems there never was a PAL video release) ? Has it ever been shown on British TV ? Was impossible to get good information about this so far, even Julie Andrews buffs seem not to be aware of this earliest "film musical" she starred in.

[Ken Barnes]

Hi Christoph,

Thanks for your note of Feb 11. Apologies for the delay in getting back to you - but I've been trying to find details on "Rose of Baghdad" and the only thing I've established is that it is not in the public domain. Beyond the information you furnished, I can find nothing.

The Internet Movie Database gives a brief rundown on the film and the fact that a teenage Julie Andrews can be heard on the S/T - and that's about it. No mention in any of the regular movie guides ( like Leonard Maltin's Movie and TV Guide, etc. ).

An interesting mystery. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Ken

[Christoph Nestel]

Hello Ken,


Thanks for your effort to track down some information.


I got my copy of the Italian DVD meanwhile and after viewing it for the first time, I liked this film best (although I do not undertand Italian) from the very beginning. A highly beautiful animated film (just a little less fluid than Disney) with splendid, rich Technicolor photography and exceptional camerawork. The use of camera angles which are usually familiar with live-action films (e.g. back-zooms) and rarely seen in animated films was an appealing surprise to me. The backgrounds are stunning and sometimes so vivid one would guess it's real-life photography. The story is tenseful and dramatic but nevertheless has many funny moments, a great score and fine songs.


No doubt: this is one of the best animated feature films I've ever seen. It's a complete mystery now to me that it has totally vanished from people's minds. At least Julie Andrews should have guaranteed the status it deserves in English speaking countries. Thus I can't stop praising Anton Gino Domeneghini (sadly I know really nothing about him) for a true masterpiece, a great work of art he has created. It's become and will last one of my favourite animated features ever besides PINOCCHIO, BAMBI and SNOW WHITE.


Do you know who is copyright holder of the film today ? I'm afraid there's no other way to see the British dub (I would assume the rumour about Karloff is a mistake) than to buy a NTSC videotape (a thing I usually do not like to do very much). There are various tapes and all are suspicious to be public domain copies...


Best, Christoph

[Ken Barnes]

Dear Christoph,

I've managed to unearth some information of Rose of Baghdad through my contacts in the BFI. The film was produced by a company called I.M.A. di Antonio Domeneghini. But there is no record of a British co-production A British company, Grand National Film Productions, had distribution rights at one point, though they went into liquidation. But now they are operating again as Grand National at 14 Kingsley Park, London N6
( Fax 0208 340 3762 ). But it's unlikely that they have records of who now owns the film.

The prints held by the BFI, which are of the English version, were acquired as the result of a clear-out of one of Rank's warehouses. Presumably, Rank Labs did the U.K. prints.

And that's about all I can tell you. I hope it's of some help.

Good luck
Ken

[Christoph Nestel]

Hi Ken,

thanks for this information. I did find scarce information about Anton Gino Domeneghini meanwhile.

He was born in 1897 in Darfo, Brescia, had been a journalist and then founded the IMA (abbreviation for "Idea, Metodo, Arte") which became the most important advertising agency of Italy in the 40s and 60s. It was IMA to introduce and establish companies such as Gilette or Coca Cola on the Italian market. A stand-still in the advertising field during the war years gave him the time to get into work with "La Rosa di Bagdad".

Production started already in 1942 under the working title "Amin e la Lampada di Aladino". As there was no possibility to process color film in Italy, war had to be finished before laboratory work could be done at Technicolor, London. In 1949 "La Rosa di Bagdad" was introduced at the Venice film festival and received the first price as "best child film".

It's an irony that just the production of an advertising company failed its deserved success due to lack of proper international distribution. Sadly Domeneghini never produced an animated feature again later. He preferred to maintain in advertising business exclusively and died in Milano in 1966. Nevertheless for his one and only film he deserves a place of honour in the "Olymp of animated fim making".

Thanks best, Christoph

[Ken Barnes]

That's interesting, Christoph. A rare film made under unique circumstances. But we still don't know who owns it today.

Best
Ken

[Christoph Nestel]

I'll try to investigate. I guess the most natural thing is to find the copyright holder in Italy. I'll try to e-mail the company which issued the Italian DVD; they should know. The film was unseen in Italy as well until 1998 when restoration was done with the help of Domeneghini's daughter who contributed her personal prints and materials. The restoration is indeed fine, but nevertheless an occasional shift in colour, light/dark patterns and single frames missing indicates that several different prints and negatives were used to re-create a definitive version. May be when doing the restauration nobody was aware of the material kept by the BFI. I'm afraid Technicolor London possibly junked the original negative as it was done with hundreds of other films to make storage for new films.