PROFILBARU.COM

Adventure in Iraq
Adventure in Iraq
	Poster
Directed by	D. Ross Lederman
Written by	George Bilson
Based on	The Green Goddess; by William Archer
Produced by	William Jacobs
Starring	John Loder and Ruth Ford.
Cinematography	James Van Trees
Edited by	Clarence Kolster
Music by	Heinz Roemheld
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	September 27, 1943;
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$130,000
Box office	$147,000

Adventure in Iraq is a 1943 American adventure film directed by D. Ross Lederman and starring John Loder, Ruth Ford, Warren Douglas and Paul Cavanagh. The film is based on the 1921 play The Green Goddess by William Archer.

Plot

Three Americans flying a small plane to Cairo, Egypt, are forced by engine failure to land in Iraq and are taken prisoner by an Arab chieftain.

Cast

John Loder as George Torrence
Ruth Ford as Tess Torrence
Warren Douglas as Doug Everett
Paul Cavanagh as Sheik Ahmid Bel Nor
Barry Bernard as Devins
Peggy Carson as Timah Devins
Martin Garralaga as High Priest
Bill Crago as Air Force Capt. Carson
John George as Small Iraqi in Courtyard
Manuel López as Tall Priest in Courtyard
Bill Edwards as Air Force Sergeant

Production

The film was made by Warner Brothers as a programmer. It was a remake of Archer's play The Green Goddess, updating the action to modern Iraq. It encountered strong objections from the OWI, who charged that its plot was unintentionally both anti-British and anti-Arab and was potentially offensive to America's ally and to neutral Arab countries. The film was already granted an export licence, but pressure from the State Department overrode this. Consequently, it was the only Warners' film not to receive an overseas release during the 1940s.^[2]

Reception

Writing in Turner Classic Movies, critic Frank Miller noted that, "Warner Bros. had no problem re-making The Green Goddess, the twice-filmed tale of a duplicitous, lustful Himalayan Raja, as Adventure in Iraq, the tale of a duplicitous, lustful Iraqi sheikh. In truth, the writers seem to have expended more effort updating the story to World War II than they did changing the location and the villain's cultural background." He also described the film as "hardly an A-picture" with a cast "made up of low-budget veterans."^[3] A review of the film by Craig Butler in AllMovie noted that "the plot is overly familiar and not especially believable. Dialogue is of the cliched and stilted variety, and the characters have stock written all over them. David Ross Lederman's by the book direction doesn't help matters."^[4]

The film earned $147,000 domestically and did not earn anything outside the US because it was not released there.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 24 doi:10.1080/01439689508604551
^ Glancy p.192-193
^ Miller, Frank. "Adventure in Iraq". Turner Classic Movies. Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
^ Butler, Craig. "Adventure in Iraq (1943)". AllMovies. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved August 11, 2023.