WWW. Welcome to Weird Wednesday! Tonight's feature is straight out of Egypt, and it's called "Afrita Hanem!" If you've never heard of this film, you just might be a little surprised to find out it's a very good movie, especially if you're the kind of person who enjoys 'World Music!'
Here's just a small sample of what you're in for!
"Afrita Hanem" is a musical comedy, and is also known as both "The Genie Lady," and/or "Little Miss Devil," and both of those names would be quite appropriate!
Sometimes I think the sub-title translations are a little screwy. I mean that sounds kind of dirty!
The way this one translates is not much better!
No, it's not Ricky and Lucy, it's Asfour and Aleya! They perform together and he's in love with her, but she doesn't really want to have anything to do with him because he's just a commoner!
Information gets confused even when they're speaking their own language as Asfour thinks Aleya has agreed to marry him, and Asfour and his buddies whoop it up because of the good news!
Asfour meets an old man who sends him to this cave where a magic lamp is hidden, and out pops the genie who thinks Asfour is her long lost love!
The genie is played by Samia Gamal, who is also a top notch belly dancer, and it turns out she's got quite a sense of humor! In fact, it doesn't take much to figure out why the movie was also called "Little Miss Devil" because she is very mischievous, and nobody can see her except Asfour!
I still haven't figured out how the expression "No Way, José" managed to make it's way to the Mideast! This is the second flick I've seen, the other one being from Turkey, where they used that terminology!
Don't you just get the feeling that Frankie and Annette are going to show up any minute?
The genie's name is Kahramana, and she gets Asfour enough cash to open a club of his own. Along with Asfour, the star of the new club is a gal called Semsema, and if it's not confusing enough already, Semsema is also played by Samia Gamal!
Kahramana is totally full of it, and is messing with people all the time! I would not be the least bit surprised to find out that the creators of the "I Dream Of Jeannie" TV show had seen and been inspired by this film!
Asfour and Semsema do one more number! I didn't count, but there might be six or eight songs in the movie, and they are all quite entertaining!
On a danger sign or in a piano, it just doesn't seem like people are having this much fun in Egypt these days!
Looks kind of like something right out of a "Three Stooges" episode, doesn't it?
This scene looks like it came right out of "Hellzapoppin!"
Yep, that pretty much sums it up! You would probably find it hard to believe, but "Afrita Hanem - The Genie Lady" is actually available from Netflix, so check it out if you want a different kind of good time before they're banned forever!
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