Yankee Pasha

I once read somewhere that when Jeff Chandler completed Yankee Buccaneer in 1952 there were a lot of action sequences left over. Like any other studio Universal never let anything go to waste so two years later Chandler wound up filming Yankee Pasha.

Fans of the stars should like Yankee Pasha. It's a romance novel about a frontiersman who follows his lady love across the Atlantic Ocean after a misunderstanding about the lady's true intentions. Rhonda Fleming is captured by Barbary Pirates and as redheads are a premium she catches the eye of Rex Reason the head of the Ottoman Sultan's local Jannisary forces in Morocco. His troops even have the Sultan of Morocco somewhat intimidated, the Moroccan Sultan being Lee J. Cobb.

Jeff Chandler is not going to let an ocean or Moslem custom about women Christian captives interfere with his pursuit of his lady love. Not even the Sultan's present of Mamie Van Doren to Chandler deters him one wit from his mission.

Van Doren is as annoying to the audience as she was to Chandler with her constant cackling. She was a beauty no doubt, but her acting talent left a lot to be desired. But this film isn't any great work of art. Blonds and redheads certainly add some spice to any harem.

If you like romance novels and are fans of the stars Yankee Pasha should work for you.