Review of Yankee Pasha

A classic tale of adventure and romance, filmed in Technicolor(although rather washed out), and released by Universal. Presently available at YouTube. Two years earlier, Chandler had played the "Yankee Buccaneer": a rather similar type of romantic adventurer..... Loner trapper Starbucks(Jeff Chandler)wanders into 1800 Salem, Mass. to sell his pelts, gleaned from the Adirondacks. Tall, dressed in clean buckskins, with a coonskin cap, he immediately attracts the attention of unmarried gorgeous urbane Roxana Riel(Rhonda Fleming), who is riding in her 'surrey with a fringe on top'. Would seem an unlikely association, as Roxana is engaged to her long time acquaintance, jockey Dick Baily: son of a wealthy member of the community, and her father's choice. However, upon talking to Starbucks, we learn that Baily isn't really her choice, as she doesn't like his personality. She's doing it to satisfy her father. Although she's clearly attracted to Starbucks, and they engage in a passionate kiss, she discourages him from hoping to marry her. Thus, he heads out for the woods. She leaves a letter for him and , with her father, leaves on a ship for Marseilles(Why, I'm not sure), having cancelled her engagement to Baily. A messenger finds Starbuck and gives him the good news about the engagement. Starbuck returns to Salem, but learns of her ocean voyage. He hops on the next ship going to Marseilles, still in his buckskin outfit. In Marseilles, he learns that the ship Roxana was on was attacked by Barbary pirates, and she was probably captured, and taken to a slave market in Morocco. Thus, he dons a Moorish outfit and sails for Morocco, where he impresses the Sultan with his sharpshooting, using his 'Kentucky' rifle(probably made in Pennsylvania). The sultan appoints him shooting instructor for his soldiers, and gives him the gorgeous blond slave girl Lilith( Mamie Van Doren), who is equally satisfied with him as her master. I wonder how he's going to instruct shooting with presumed muskets rather than his Kentucky rifle? Rifles have the advantage of shooting straighter at targets than smooth bore muskets, which will make his task more difficult. Later, Starbuck wins a shooting match with pasha Omar Id-Din, who agrees to give him his slave girl Roxana. But, their troubles aren't over yet! As you would expect, Roxana and Lilith are soon at each other's throats. They have quite a cat fight, rolling all over the floor, until stopped by a man. This was the dramatic highlight for me!, although I suppose the intended climax is the attempted escape of Starbuck and the other prisoners on Omar's death row. Of course, there is the obligatory duel to the death between Starbuck and Omar.....One minor gripe: the coonskin cap was virtually a giveaway that a person was a backwoodsman. However, they didn't normally wear them in summer, as usually portrayed in Hollywood films. They made one's head too hot!......Familiar-looking Tudor Owen played the Salem merchant who bought Starbuck's furs and gave him advice. Rex Reason played the evil Omar Id-Din, while Lee Cobb played the Sultan. Harry Lauter played Roxana's early fiancé, while Arthur Space played the U.S. Consul in Morocco, who introduced Starbuck to the Sultan. Hal March played Omar's guard who helped in the prison escape. See it at YouTube