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Slave Girl
Slave Girl
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Charles Lamont
Written by	Michael Fessier; Ernest Pagano
Produced by	Michael Fessier; Ernest Pagano
Starring	Yvonne De Carlo; George Brent
Cinematography	W. Howard Greene; George Robinson
Edited by	Frank Gross
Music by	Milton Rosen
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	July 17, 1947 (New York City);
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	>$1.6 million
Box office	$2 million (US rentals)

Slave Girl is a 1947 American Technicolor adventure comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring Yvonne De Carlo and George Brent.

Plot

When American playboy Matt Claiborne (George Brent) embarks on a mission to Tripoli, he finds forbidden love and political intrigue when he falls for a dancing girl involved with rival lords. Matt is supposed to trade gold with the Pasha for American sailors being held hostage. However, the Pasha's fiancée, Francesca (Yvonne De Carlo), steals it, hoping to finance her lover El Hamid's (Carl Esmond) revolution. But when El Hamid betrays Francesca, she and Matt join forces and find true love.

Cast

Yvonne De Carlo as Francesca
George Brent as Matt Claibourne aka Pierre
Broderick Crawford as Chips Jackson
Albert Dekker as Pasha
Lois Collier as Aleta
Andy Devine as Ben the Fat Sailor
Arthur Treacher as Thomas 'Liverpool' Griswold
Carl Esmond as El Hamid
Dan Seymour as Telek the Tuareg Chieftain
Philip Van Zandt as Yusef
Trevor Bardette as Hadji the Cafe Proprietor

Production

The film was originally called The Flame of Tripoli. It was announced in April 1946 with Yvonne De Carlo and George Brent attached, and was written and produced by the team of Michael Fessiner and Ernest Pagano, who had made Frontier Gal with De Carlo.^[3] The budget was $1.6 million.^[1]

Filming started on 18 July 1946. Dona Drake was to appear in the film but fell ill and was replaced by Lois Collier.^[4] Parts of the film were shot in Paria Canyon and the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah.^[5]^: 288

The movie was envisioned as a melodrama but during the shoot the writer-producers decided to add more comedy to liven up the film. Previews were not encouraging. By this stage Universal had merged with International and the film came under the supervision of William Dozier. He added a card with a title card involving a camel that indicated the film was to be a comedy. This was previewed to good response, so Dozier arranged for additional scenes involving the camel commenting on the action to be added .^[1]

De Carlo was unhappy because several of her dances were removed. She also felt George Brent was too old for his part.^[6]

Reception

The film was a hit at the box office, earning over $2 million in the US.^[2]

"The film offers laughs" said the Los Angeles Times.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c CONTRACT TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: Actors Guild Presents Demands -- Soviet Spy Film -- Other Items By THOMAS F. BEADY. New York Times 13 Apr 1947: 69.
^ ^a ^b "Top Grossers of 1947". Variety. 7 January 1948. p. 63.
^ MEREDITH TO PLAY PRESIDENT MADISON: Signed by Skirball-Manning for 'The Magnificent Doll,' With Ginger Rogers and Niven Of Local Origin Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES. 26 Apr 1946: 29.
^ Film Junkets Planned to Ireland and Italy Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 7 Aug 1946: A2.
^ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: A history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
^ De Carlo, Yvonne; Warren, Doug (1987). Yvonne : an autobiography. St Martins Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-312-00217-6.
^ Hookah Melodramas Kidded at Last Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 1 Aug 1947: 6.