The Harem - The Original Miniseries Box Set

A romance out of the past

I enjoyed this seemingly made for TV movie when I saw it back in 1990. I discovered afterward there was another movie with the title of Harem made the same year (1985-86) and starring Nastassja Kinski. That one was a bit darker, but also enjoyable.
I had already seen Nancy Travis, the starlet of this Harem, in the Richard Gere cop thriller Internal Affairs, and in a bit part in Married to the Mob, so at the time she was babelicious.
It's become a common plot, in these types of movies, to have a beautiful western woman kidnapped by a lustful or politically-motivated sultan or sheik (I think of the excellent The Wind and the Lion, the surreal The Sheltering Sky, then Sahara and a bunch of lesser movies). But Harem executes this plot well - you sympathize for Jessica, the character played by Nancy Travis, you want her fiance to rescue her, and yet you start rooting for her new Bedouin love interest and even feel for the tyrannical sultan, played by Omar Sharif.
Julian Sands plays Jessica's stiff Brit fiance, a turnabout from the dashing and impetuous young lover he played in A Room with a View. You wish he would be a stronger character, but he is so weak-kneed you understand Jessica's fickle betrayal. July 29, 2003

For the romantic..

A wouldn't classify this as a great movie, but, being a lover of classic romance, it filled to overflow. It's a great movie to sit down and enjoy and unwind. January 24, 2003

Disappointing

This film or miniseries is not quite what I expected when I purchased the video. Ava Gardner is definitely not in her best role as the Kadin, Omar Sharif seems bored by just being in this movie, and Art Malik as the rebel is not at all convincing. His perfect british accent makes you wonder why he even returned to his country to start a rebellion. Nancy Travis seems to accept her fate with nonchalance. Sarah Miles, as the wife of a sheik! . Give me a break. Who wrote the screenplay? Well, I purchased this video, watched it once and put it away.... June 23, 2000

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