Harem

It is hard not to be impressed by the single-mindedness of Joffé who, with only a few shorts to his credit, garnered $10 million, Kinski and Kingsley, and made his own movie. Kinski plays a single-minded New York demoiselle, working at full stretch on Wall Street and firmly not on the lookout for 9 weeks of passion. But mysterious gifts begin arriving, and before long she appears to be a prize catch for the white slave market, waking up one day in an isolated Arabian harem. Fortunately, though, her captor is an educated and lonely prince who has desired her from afar. What might have been an intriguing clash of cultures soon dissipates into a listless drama of will they/won't they, until the Tragic Irony of the finale falls completely flat. Fine credentials (attractive decor by Trauner, delicate photography by De Santis) but little inspiration.