Abdul the Damned (1936)

Wonderful character development!

Overrated and overhyped

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

If you don't know much about the modern history of the Ottoman Empire, you might want to read up on it before you see the film. Unfortunately, folks here in the US know next to nothing about this important period--I should know, I am a retired history teacher. I'll try to sum it up briefly. By 1900, the Ottoman Empire had long been in decline. The leader, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, was weak and was eventually forced by reformists to institute a constitutional government. This group is often referred to by the term 'Young Turks', though they weren't necessarily young--just desiring to modernize the country. And, not surprisingly, those who wanted to maintain the old order were called 'Old Turks'! The film is set around 1908. The leader of the Young Turks has been recalled out of exile to set up a new government. However, the Chief of Police is a ruthless man and resents the Young Turks. So, he orchestrates an assassination of the leader of the Old Turks and blames the crime on the Young Turks in order to derail the formation of the constitutional government. Can the treachery be discovered in time or will the Ottoman Empire be forever doomed?! The idea of doing a film about this time period is pretty cool--even if a lot of the material is fictional. My major problem with the film is its very static nature. It didn't need to be this dull--in fact, it should have been very exciting (especially with a title like "Abdul the Damned"!!). The film could have used some incidental music (it lacks this entirely) and a few of the performances could have been intensified a bit, as it's rather cerebral. Now this is NOT to say it's a bad film--it just could have been better--especially if it's to interest the average viewer today.The fact is, that I would LOVE to see films made about this 1908 'mini-revolution' but would also love to see one about the formation of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923. And, I would like them to be interesting and well-made--as they should be. I just won't hold my breath until Hollywood to rushes to make such a project!

Fascinating though heavy-going political thriller (quite unusual for a British production of its time) about little-known events – it's set in 1908 Turkey during the final years in the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II; the overall treatment (this is one of obscure Austrian director Grune's last films) is somewhat stilted but pictorially impressive nonetheless. Though the film is bogged down by the romantic contrivances, making it feel longish, there is still plenty of intrigue going on to hold one's interest – with even some effectively ironic cross-cutting between pompous parades and vicious assassinations several decades before THE GODFATHER (1972)'s celebrated climax! Fritz Kortner turns in another powerful, albeit thoughtful and more controlled, performance (or, rather, two – as he also plays the titular character's actor double!); abetting him are Nils Asther (a fine performance of sleek villainy as Abdul's ambitious Chief Of Police – incidentally, he had himself just played a villainous ruler in Frank Capra's marvelous THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN [1933] with which this film shares some similarities) and statuesque Adrienne Ames (as a visiting Austrian singer who attracts the lustful eye of many a man, including the Sultan himself – I knew her best from the classic W.C. Fields comedy YOU'RE TELLING ME! [1934]). The supporting cast, then, includes the likes of Esme' Percy (as the Sultan's aide, a eununch!), Walter Rilla, Patric Knowles, George Zucco and Eric Portman.Apparently, this was cut down from the original 111 minutes (the DVD version actually runs for 108) to a mere 79 minutes for American theatrical release. Finally, one must thank VCI for making such a rare item as ABDUL THE DAMNED (whose brief complimentary review in the Leslie Halliwell Film Guide I'd been reading for years) available – even if only as a bonus feature on their Deluxe Edition of CHU-CHIN-CHOW (1934). However, I was irked by the sloppy disc production involved: the worst offender is an annoyingly long pause prior to every chapter (something I've never encountered before and which also affects the shorter version of CHU-CHIN-CHOW, retitled ALI BABA NIGHTS, on the second DVD of this 3-Disc Set)! Besides, the actor bios are not given sufficient time to register and could only be read by pausing them; then, once they're over, the disc doesn't return one automatically to the main menu – I had to press the "Stop" and "Menu" buttons on my remote control in order to access the next item...wtf?!

This interesting historical drama is helped quite a bit by good performances from Fritz Kortner, in a dual role, and Nils Asther. It uses the historical situation near the end of the reign of Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid II ("Abdul The Damned") as a basis for intrigue and melodrama. The setting itself is an interesting choice, as the nation of Turkey has a distinctive and important history that is too often little appreciated outside of its own borders.The story has Kortner, as Abdul and as the Sultan's hapless double, along with Asther, as the suave but villainous chief of police, plotting to crush the reform-minded Young Turks, while Abdul also becomes increasingly infatuated with a visiting Austrian singer. Kortner gives an insightful portrayal of the tyrant, showing how his brutality comes from fear and inadequacy, rather than from strength. Asther seems to relish his role, and he has a number of good moments.Although the historical setting and characters are often adapted for the sake of cinematic effect, it still communicates the basics of the actual historical situation in an interesting way that is worth seeing. Beyond that, it also offers a good, complex dramatic situation with two good leads, especially Kortner, who gives one of the better leading portrayals that you can find in the historical movies of the era.

Abdul Hamid was the sultan of Turkey at the turn of the century. A dozen sultans before him had been murdered for political reasons. He lives in such fear of assassination that his chief of the secret police, Nils Asther (in an unusually menacing role), "removes" anyone who could possibly be a threat. Along comes Adrienne Ames as the star of a touring British musical. The sultan takes one look at her and falls in love. She won't give him the time of day. The chief of police has her fiancé arrested on a pretext and threatened with execution to "encourage" her to enter the sultan's harem (which interestingly and politically correctly contain women from every possible race: Black, European, Jewish, etc.). She agrees. Most of the film is concerned with the political machinations of the sultan and the chief of police. It's a political thriller and from that POV was quite ahead of its time. But it's a fascinating film in its own right. Not only because of Fritz Kortner and Nil Asther, but because of the fine acting by Eric Portman, Patrick Knowles, Esme Percy as the chief eunuch, and a brief but forceful appearance by George Zucco as the Captain of the firing squad. Added to all of this is an excellent musical score (with a rare filmed glimpse of a 1930's English musical production), brilliant editing and cinematography that will remind you of the German Expressionism movement------much of the crew, director, cinematographer, etc. were German immigrants. The film has as German a feel as SUNRISE. If you get a chance to see it, do. It's a favorite of mine.Jay Fenton