The Rose of Persia

The Rose of Persia, or The Story-Teller and the Slave takes place in a less complicated Middle East where slave girls and the Sultana herself, Rose-In-Bloom, seek escape from the boredom of the harem by concealing themselves in the home of a wealthy philanthropist named Hassan who shuns the society of the Sultan’s court. Hassan has “only” 25 wives, but is constantly trying to escape their whining complaints, especially those of his domineering first wife, Dancing Sunbeam. When the Sultan himself and his 3 top officers, disguised as holy men known as dervishes, come to check out the eccentric behavior of Hassan, things get hot for all concerned until the Sultan devises to play a joke whereby Hassan, in a drug induced stupor, is taken to the palace and hailed as the real Sultan — to the delight of Hassan’s social climbing wives.