[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/
    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    EmmysSuperheroes GuideSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideBest Of 2025 So FarDisability Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Omar Khayyam

  • 1957
  • U
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
402
YOUR RATING
Debra Paget and Cornel Wilde in Omar Khayyam (1957)
AdventureBiographyRomance

During the 11th century, Persian poet Omar Khayyam's lover marries the Shah but the Shah, whose life is threatened by a sect of assassins, appoints Omar royal advisor.During the 11th century, Persian poet Omar Khayyam's lover marries the Shah but the Shah, whose life is threatened by a sect of assassins, appoints Omar royal advisor.During the 11th century, Persian poet Omar Khayyam's lover marries the Shah but the Shah, whose life is threatened by a sect of assassins, appoints Omar royal advisor.

  • Director
    • William Dieterle
  • Writer
    • Barré Lyndon
  • Stars
    • Cornel Wilde
    • Michael Rennie
    • Debra Paget
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.8/10
    402
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • William Dieterle
    • Writer
      • Barré Lyndon
    • Stars
      • Cornel Wilde
      • Michael Rennie
      • Debra Paget
    • 11User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos36

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 32
    View Poster

    Top cast71

    Edit
    Cornel Wilde
    Cornel Wilde
    • Omar Khayyam
    Michael Rennie
    Michael Rennie
    • Hasani Sabah
    Debra Paget
    Debra Paget
    • Sharain
    John Derek
    John Derek
    • Young Prince Malik
    Raymond Massey
    Raymond Massey
    • The Shah
    Yma Sumac
    Yma Sumac
    • Karina
    Margaret Hayes
    Margaret Hayes
    • Queen Zarada
    Joan Taylor
    Joan Taylor
    • Yaffa
    Sebastian Cabot
    Sebastian Cabot
    • The Nizam
    Perry Lopez
    Perry Lopez
    • Prince Ahmud
    Morris Ankrum
    Morris Ankrum
    • Imam Nowaffak
    Abraham Sofaer
    Abraham Sofaer
    • Tutush
    Edward Platt
    Edward Platt
    • Jayhan
    James Griffith
    James Griffith
    • Buzorg
    Peter Adams
    Peter Adams
    • Master Herald
    Henry Brandon
    Henry Brandon
    • Commander
    Kem Dibbs
    • Tutush's Guard
    Paul Picerni
    Paul Picerni
    • Commander
    • Director
      • William Dieterle
    • Writer
      • Barré Lyndon
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews11

    5.8402
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    7AFernandez58

    Great story, average movie

    "Omar Khayyam" is in many ways a typical 50s Hollywood oriental sword and sandal epic but with a few twists and tremendous (unmet) potential. The actual story of three friends (Hassan, Omar and Nizam) goes back hundreds of years and is pretty engaging. The historical personalities of Omar and Hassan al-Sabbah are quite interesting characters. There is potentially a great film here.

    The actual production is not great but it has some nice things: Michael Rennie gives a great performance as Hassani. It is one of his best things, right up there with the alien in "The Day the Earth Stood Still." It also has Raymond Massey and the great Abraham Sofaer, a distinctive character actor, as Tutush, the Sultan's brother. It has a fine score by Victor Young and some neat matte paintings of Alamut. Some of the lines are great: "I know of some other heads that should be sealed with wax and honey." But in the end it is too formulaic of a Hollywood spectacular. Cornel Wilde is too stolid. Such a rich historical backdrop and fascinating subject matter is worthy of a better film.
    sundar-2

    Typical "Arabian Nights" film of the 1950s

    The 11th century mathematician-poet Omar Khayyam who lived in Baghdad wrote quatrains in Persian which are still quoted. The exact details of his life are unknown, so Hollywood wrote a biography on the tabula rasa of his life. Cornel Wilde plays the often-drunk Omar Khayyam who longs for his sweetheart who the Sultan keeps in his harem as his third wife. Omar Khayyam works in the Sultan's court as a mathematician who is drawing up a new calendar. When the Sultan dies, Omar Khayyam stumbles upon a plot to kill off the Sultan's successor. The poet then goes off to foil the plot. He crosses swords with the Assassin sect whose members are deluded by their leader into thinking that they are in paradise when they actually are in a hashish-induced zombie-like state. In fact, the word "assassin" means "hashish-eaters".

    Cornel Wilde who plays Omar Khayyam is unable to be a debonair swashbuckler because he has to play a tortured poet. Michael Rennie as the sinister Hasani is wonderful. His aquiline features suit his Arab role. The rest of the cast is unremarkable. "Omar Khayyam" has all the Arabian Nights cliches - harems, slaves, sultans, thieves and intrigues. It is a type of movie which will not be made again because, these days, the Middle East brings up visions of fanatical terrorists, not innocuous fables of highly intellectual Arabs amidst the magnificence of ancient Baghdad.

    (Reviewed by Sundar Narayan)
    6bkoganbing

    Cornel Coins the Rhymes, Rennie Starts the Rebellion

    Omar Khayyam, medieval poet and scholar and quite the scientist as it turns out in this film, stars Cornel Wilde in the title role. Khayyam is a guy content to do his scholarly thing, but there's a whole lot of treachery going in Persia and it's coming from people close to him.

    The legend of Omar Khayyam has him involved with two others, a rich merchant Hisreini who becomes leader of the assassin cult and Nizam who is prime minister to the Shah, played respectively by Michael Rennie and Sebastian Cabot. Rennie who is as always cultured and refined, is the 12th century Osama Bin-Laden of the piece. His is probably the best performance of the film.

    By the way Omar Khayyam gives one an opportunity to see both the men who Cecil B. DeMille considered for the role of Joshua in The Ten Commandments in the same film. John Derek who is the crown prince played Joshua and Wilde was the one originally offered the part.

    The film was done at Paramount which was a bit unusual itself because the Arabian knights type films were an in house staple of Universal Studios.

    Probably Cornel got the part after Tyrone Power who was freelancing then turned it down. It was that way all Wilde's life, getting sloppy seconds from either Power or Errol Flynn.

    The film is all right, but should have had Wilde doing a bit more swordplay. He was in real life a champion at fencing.
    6NYLux

    Another great biography parodies into fluff. Kitsch Entertainment

    Unfortunately we do not have a lot of biographical detail on Omar Khayyam, one of the world's greatest mathematician, astronomer and poet, and a philosopher as well. His tomb, still existent in Iran is a great monument of Islamic architecture. This movie is a monument to Hollywood's inability to capture any of those values and turn it all instead into a vapid adventure story with miles of cheap fabrics that look 'exotic'. We even get a band of "assasins' that is very similar in spirit, logical plan and training to today's Taliban.

    Cornell Wilde is unable to project the charisma and genius of this Persian poet. He looks like a retired banker that lives in NY, has a mild interest in the theater and is doing this movie because he wants to have a tax right-off. He should have been played by Omar Shariff. Margaret Hayes is great camp as Queen Zarada, the queen mother whose ambition will stop at nothing to secure the throne for her sons. She is also capable of sustaining a platinum blond mane in the midst of the harem with great aplomb, as a symbol and reminder that all queens should be white, blond and preferably from Philadelphia. She is always trailing several yards of Technicolor blue cape behind her every move. Joan Taylor is so ferociously loyal and annoyingly organized as Yaffa, Omar's slave, that one is relieved to see her being pushed from a cliff. Debra Paget plays Sharain, Omar's great love and inspiration for his poems, as a secular nun who also clearly has a cross-eyed problem. This role should understandably have gone to Arabian Night-resident-Hollywood-expert Maureen O'Hara. Michael Rennie is the EVIL Hasani Sabah, and gives the best performance in his role as the ruthless leader of the Assassins sect. One laments not to see him shirtless and wearing a pendant cabochon emerald from one of his handsome earlobes.

    As a vapid Arabian Night action movie it has all the polyester, plated gold, architectural plaster and Technicolor spectrum of saturated glamorama to while away a lazy summer afternoon. Great double feature with a Sinbad or Baghdad movie.
    Blueghost

    Decent watch.

    Other reviewers said it best; this is your typical 1950s period pic actioner with lots of adventure and some sword play. I never pictured Omar Khayyam as much of an infiltrator, but the movie, being a movie from the 50s, takes liberty with Khayyam's life, and spices things up for the audience. Think about it. If you were a young man needing to take his girl on a date in 1957, would you want to see some existential docu-drama about the Persian poet's life and works? No, more like you'd want to see something that had action, romance, adventure, and heroics over bad guys to cap off the evening.

    Well, this movie delivers. It's not an outstanding movie, but it's a good simple basic film that, to be honest, was a little ahead of its time in terms of addressing the turmoil in the middle east. Allusions to caliphates, the "one true religion", secret hideouts in the mountains certainly ring bells with events since our own September 11th, 2001. But, fortunately our hero, Omar Khayyam played by Cornel Wilde, uses his learned ways and scholarly teachings to fight a familiar foe we know today, whose roots are seated in past pride.

    The story is right out of Hollwood 101, and everyone here is from central casting. The performances are a little wooden, and SFX are easily spotted but do their job, and overall the production values are fairly solid. Omar Khayyam doesn't give us too much of his poetry as he's too busy saving the kingdom of those he serves, but we are treated to a few lines of his poetic brilliance before the movie ends.

    It's worth seeing once, and perhaps again on a rainy weekend afternoon. It's that kind of a movie. Watch it, enjoy it for what it is, but don't take it too seriously.

    Overall a decent watch.

    Enjoy.

    More like this

    The Desert Hawk
    5.5
    The Desert Hawk
    Zarak
    5.5
    Zarak
    Elephant Walk
    6.3
    Elephant Walk
    A Thousand and One Nights
    6.0
    A Thousand and One Nights
    Ten Tall Men
    6.0
    Ten Tall Men
    Princess of the Nile
    6.2
    Princess of the Nile
    Sands of the Kalahari
    6.7
    Sands of the Kalahari
    Lost Command
    6.3
    Lost Command
    Drums Along the Amazon
    5.7
    Drums Along the Amazon
    The Devil's Hairpin
    6.0
    The Devil's Hairpin
    Seven Angry Men
    6.4
    Seven Angry Men
    White Feather
    6.4
    White Feather

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This picture marked the last film score credit of Victor Young, the accomplished Hollywood composer, recording artist and songwriter of melodic standards - "Street of Dreams", "Love Letters", "Stella by Starlight", "My Foolish Heart", "When I Fall in Love", "Around the World".
    • Goofs
      As Omar leaves the council of the Grand Master.
    • Quotes

      Omar Khayyam: They call you Chosen One... the Seventh Excellent Creature.Are you also to be appointed Caliph, interpreting the Will of God, Supreme Ruler above all earthly kings?

      Hasani Sabah: If it were not so, I could not wear these robes nor hold this office.

      Omar Khayyam: You have named me your Counsellor, but

      [pause]

      Omar Khayyam: I am happier with lesser matters, like this strip of vellum on which I have reduced the year to better reckoning. These figures will guide the lives of men when our mouths have been stopped with the dust of a thousand years, and the name Omar Khayyam is just as long forgotten. These figures, written on the skins of lambs, have more power than all your daggers and secret plans. Such men as you have arisen in every generation, from the dawn of mankind to our times, each with another form of the ancient conspiracy to rule this Earth. Millions of men have died to prove them wrong. What you are doing is not new, and will never be old. And when you have failed - as all those before you have failed and miserably died - it will happen again, and over again, as long as my calendar shall last.

      [pause]

      Omar Khayyam: But my calendar may not last an hour. Only sworn Assassins leave this rock.

    • Connections
      Featured in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      The Loves of Omar Khayyam
      Music and Lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ15

    • How long is Omar Khayyam?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 23, 1957 (Finland)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Life, Loves and Adventures of Omar Khayyam
    • Filming locations
      • Indio, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Paramount Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $3,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Debra Paget and Cornel Wilde in Omar Khayyam (1957)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Omar Khayyam (1957) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.