| Shéhérazade | |
| Director: | Pierre Gaspard-Huit |
| Producer: | Michel Safra Serge Silberman Georges Lourau |
| Music: | André Hossein |
| Cinematography: | André Domage Christian Matras |
| Editing: | Louisette Hautecoeur |
| Studio: | Ciné-Alliance Dear Film Produzione Filmsonor Spéva Films Tecisa |
| Distributor: | Cinédis |
| Runtime: | 124 minutes |
| Country: |
|
| Language: | French |
Shéhérazade or Scorching Sands is a 1963 adventure film directed by Pierre Gaspard-Huit and starring Anna Karina as the title character. The cast also featured Gérard Barray, António Vilar and Giuliano Gemma[2] The film is loosely based on the One Thousand and One Nights. The film's sets and costumes were designed by the art director Georges Wakhévitch.
Baghdad in the year 809. The city is ruled by the Caliph, Haroun-al-Rashid, to whom the beautiful and spiritual Scheherazade has been promised. Ambassadors of Charlemagne arrive in Baghdad to ask the Caliph for free access to the Christian holy sites. Among these envoys from the west is the knight Renaud Villecroix, who falls in love with her. The grand vizier, enemy of the Caliph, ambushes a traveling party and takes Scheherazade prisoner, threatening to cut off her head. Renaud saves her and flees into the desert with her.
The film was released in France on May 15, 1963.
It was the 46th top-grossing film of 1963 in France, where it sold 1,375,848 tickets at the box office.[3] In Poland, it sold more than tickets, making it one of the thirteen highest-grossing foreign films in Poland .[4]