The New Pictures, Jul. 16, 1945

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In transplanting Times Square to the Tigris, Hollywood used rare restraint. Only two characters in the huge cast are allowed to take the proceedings frivolously—and they are motivated by a kind of casual logic. Aladdin's buddy, Abdullah (Phil Silvers), refers to the Sultan's dancing girls as "tomatoes" because, as one bit player explains it: "He is the Touched One and claims he was born 2,000 years too soon." Aladdin's fetching, bouncy, red-haired lady genie (Evelyn Keyes) obviously has a timeless viewpoint. As the genie watches Aladdin and his Princess act out a tender love scene, she is merely placing the scene in historical perspective, rather than rubbing off any of its bloom, when she observes detachedly, ''Brother, is this corny!"

Representing a heavy investment in not-too-well-known faces and figures, A Thousand and One Nights may, as its backers plainly hope, help put over a few film personalities. Princess Adele Jergens is a torrid beauty and Genie Evelyn Keyes a talented comedienne. Young Mr. Cornel Wilde (who played Chopin in A Song to Remember) may well be just what bobby-soxers of all ages have been longing for. In any case, A Thousand and One Nights is certain to delight the air-cooled neighborhood circuit for enough nights to fetch its manufacturers a Sultan's ransom.