ADVENTURE IN IRAQ has the distinction of being labeled politically incorrect during the period in which it was released to the public. Because of the tale’s anti-British sentiment (which is minimal) and its anti-Iraqi sentiment (which is quite great), Warner Brothers was dissuaded from releasing the picture abroad during WWII, though it did have a North American release and recouped its costs in U.S. theaters.
The Green Goddess began as a stage play and had been adapted as a silent picture with George Arliss in the 1920s. It was remade as a talkie and provided another hit for Arliss. He played the dictator of a fictional Asian land that was at odds with more civilized peoples of the world. In the 1943 version, the setting has been changed to Iraq. The story begins with three Allies (John Loder, Warren Douglas and Ruth Ford) flying to Egypt, but their plane has engine trouble and they are forced down in the desert. Unable to communicate by radio due to mechanical difficulties, they trek to a nearby palace owned by Sheik Ahmid (Paul Cavanagh) where they are taken in and treated hospitably. At first.
However, they soon realize they are hostages, because the sheik intends to trade them with the British in exchange for three princes, his half-brothers, who were caught spying against the allies and are about to be sentenced to death. When the British refuse to go along with this idea and execute the sheik’s brothers, the sheik claims he has no choice but to execute his three guests because his people demand revenge. The Iraqi people are depicted as blood thirsty devil worshipers.
This leads to Loder and Douglas trying to strike a bargain with an unscrupulous henchman (Barry Bernard) to radio out for help, while Ford aims to distract the sheik who has taken a fancy to her. I should add that our leading lady is in the process of divorcing Loder’s character, while she has fallen in love with Douglas. So there is an interesting quadrangle playing on screen. When the henchman double crosses them, the trio manage to escape the palace and hurry back to the downed aircraft. They will attempt once more to see if they can get the plane’s radio to work and send a message for assistance.
Loder does get the plane’s radio to transmit a signal, and he sends a message just before he is killed. The other two are recaptured by the sheik’s men and taken back to the palace. We then have a sequence which occurs the following morning where their execution is scheduled. Interesting rituals are shown on screen, and it does look like curtains for Douglas and Ford. However, allied forces suddenly arrive. There is a standoff between them and the sheik, with a series of quick bombing raids. The sheik eventually relents, so Ford and Douglas are able to leave with members of the U.S. Air Force unscathed. A humorous line by the sheik reveals that he has become impressed by the allies, and he now considers Hitler an ex-friend.
This is an interesting film that reveals cultural attitudes at the time it was made. The performances are engaging. Cavanagh especially makes the most of a showy role, probably inspired by what Arliss had accomplished in the earlier versions.
Loder has a lot of charm, and it feels like this may have been a script that Errol Flynn turned down, because Loder’s character seems very Flynn-like on screen. Douglas’ part could have been portrayed by Ronald Reagan, and Ford’s part could have been taken by Olivia de Havilland or Ann Sheridan if this had been expanded into a longer “A” budgeted picture.
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