Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves (1944)
Beichen Poque
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is a 1944 adventure film from Universal Pictures, directed by Arthur Lubin, and starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall, and Turhan Bey. The film is derived from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, but its storyline departs greatly from the folk tale of the same name, wedding that story to an actual historic event. The film is one of series of "exotic" tales released by Universal during the Second World War; others include Cobra Woman, Arabian Nights, and White Savage.[2]
Persia, A.D. 1258. After Mongolian forces conquer Bagdad, the caliph Hassan escapes captivity, along with his young son Ali. While staying at the estate of Prince Cassim, Ali and Cassim's daughter Amara, fearing they will be separated, betroth themselves via a blood-bond. Later, Cassim betrays Hassan to the Mongols' leader, Hulagu Khan. Young Ali watches his father die, and vowing revenge, he escapes capture and makes for the desert. At one point, he spies a mountainside where a group of riders exits a hidden cave. Ali enters the cave and finds it filled with treasure. When the riders return, they find the boy asleep in their hideout. Upon learning he is the son of Hassan, and impressed by his courageous spirit, they allow him to stay. Their leader, Old Baba, adopts him as his son, dubbing him Ali Baba.
Ten years later, the band of 40 thieves have become Robin Hood-style resistance fighters, robbing the Mongols and giving to the poor and downtrodden. Their leader Ali Baba, now a grown man, plots the kidnapping of the Khan's bride-to-be, who turns out to be the grown-up Amara. The two childhood friends thus have a chance encounter at an oasis, but they don't recognize each other, and their reunion is cut short when Ali is ambushed and captured. He is taken to the Khan, who orders him pilloried in the public square. Before his ensuing execution, Cassim visits Ali to question him and recognizes him as the caliph's son, but keeps this knowledge from the Khan. Ali is rescued by Amara's servant Jamiel and his pack of thieves, who kidnap Amara before making a getaway to Mount Sesame. Old Baba, however, is mortally wounded and dies on the way back.
Later, Jamiel tracks the thieves to their hideout. After convincing Ali of his loyalty to the thieves' cause, Ali sends him to deliver a ransom demand to Hulagu Khan: Cassim for the return of his bride. As they wait at Cassim's estate for the exchange, Ali recognizes Amara as his lost childhood friend and commands her release. When Amara returns to Bagdad, her father confesses Ali Baba's true identity to her and the Khan. Amara declines to marry the Khan, but gives in after her father initiates a ruse of being allegedly tortured for her refusal.
Upon learning of Amara's decision, Ali decides to launch the final attack on the Mongols on the Khan's wedding day by planning to smuggle his band of thieves into the city inside forty jars of oil, meant as a wedding gift. One of Cassim's spies discovers the plan as she overhears Jamiel reporting to Amara, but the spy is found out herself, whereupon Ali implements a slight change. At the day of the wedding, the thieves sneak in with the crowd and infiltrate the palace. The jars turn out to be filled with sand, and the Khan kills Cassim for his failure. When Ali is arrested, the thieves attack the palace guards while Amara and Jamiel open the palace gates for the mob. Hulagu Khan is killed, and Jamiel hoists the Arabian flag atop the palace's highest tower.
Diabolique magazine said the film "isn't as good as White Savage but is still bright fun" arguing that Bey's casting "throws the movie off. Sabu was a big kid but Bey is more mature, suave, grown up, with careful pro-noun-ci-ation. Sabu was never a sexual rival to Hall, but Bey he could be and Lubin gives all these close ups of him looking dreamy (the director and Lubin had clearly decided to build him into a star). It was clearly just the tonic for audiences after a hard day at the munitions factory. The public turned up in droves, and the film has never stopped playing on television."[6]
The classic adventure film ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES (1944) was released on Blu-ray last week by Kino Lorber.
Like ARABIAN NIGHTS (1942), another new Kino Lorber release reviewed here two weeks ago, ALI BABA stars Jon Hall, Maria Montez, and Turhan Bey in a Technicolor spectacle from Universal Pictures.
I really enjoyed ARABIAN NIGHTS, and I'm happy to say that I liked ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES even more.
Like ARABIAN NIGHTS, the story, written by Edmund L. Hartmann, is about a "hidden caliph," but it's more coherent and a little lighter on its feet than the earlier film. And with a couple more years and another film to her credit -- WHITE SAVAGE (1943), again with Hall -- Montez gives a more relaxed and natural performance. She's still not a great actress, but she's more than good enough for this role.
As the film begins, the Mongols have invaded Baghdad. The caliph (Moroni Olsen) is killed due to the betrayal of Prince Cassim (Frank Puglia), but the caliph's young son Ali (Scotty Beckett) escapes and stumbles across the cave of the "forty thieves."
The thieves, including Old Baba (Fortunio Bonanova) and Abdullah (Andy Devine), adopt Ali, naming him Ali Baba, and when he grows up the thieves, now "forty and one," terrorize the Mongols.
As the story unfolds, eventually the thieves kidnap Princess Amara (Montez), who is expected to be the bride of the Mongol ruler Kahn (Kurt Katch). Only later does Ali realize that Amara is the childhood friend (played by Yvette Duguay in the opening scenes) he had pledged to wed himself.
Along the way there are many exciting action scenes, with Amara's loyal servant Jamiel (Turhan Bey) joining forces with the thieves in a plan to overthrow Kahn and restore Ali to the throne.
I found this film a lot of fun; just as with ARABIAN NIGHTS, it must have been wonderful escapism for wartime audiences when it was released in January 1944. It certainly feels especially good to me right now being able to disappear into Universal's Technicolor wonderland for 87 minutes.
I like Jon Hall in these films quite well; he's good-humored and handsome, although it must be admitted that in this film he threatens to be overshadowed by the heroics of Bey, an actor I'm really coming to appreciate this year. Bey was delightful in the comedy OUT OF THE BLUE (1947) and had a much smaller part in ARABIAN NIGHTS. His performances in OUT OF THE BLUE and ALI BABA cause me to be interested in seeking out more of his work.
Andy Devine has quite a nice part in this as Ali's "nursemaid," assigned by Old Baba to take care of the young boy. It's a nicely written and acted part, balancing comedy with a couple moments which are quite touching.
The vigorous score by Edward Ward is a real plus, as is the Technicolor cinematography of W. Howard Greene and George Robinson. Numerous desert scenes were filmed on location in California's Red Rock Canyon State Park.
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES was directed by Arthur Lubin.
Like ARABIAN NIGHTS, the ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES Blu-ray disc includes the trailer, a gallery of trailers for three additional films available from Kino Lorber, and a commentary track by Phillipa Berry. The film looks and sounds terrific. It's a most enjoyable release.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is an exciting action-adventure which adapts material from the story in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The adaptation was produced by Paul Malvern (The Ridin' Fool, The Mystery Man). The Universal spectacle is another fun genre outing which fans of exciting b-movies should make sure to see.
Departing heavily from the original tale of the same name, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves centers the cinematic adaptation around Ali Baba (Jon Hall) and his own journey. Focusing on Ali's earliest days as a brave youth to his experiences as a young man fighting the tides of the ruthless Hugalu Khan soldiers (who orchestrated the murder of his father, Kalif), the story delves into exciting territory. Audiences have much to look forward to as the story unfolds.
Having learned how to be a warrior by growing up alongside the forty thieves (who helped train and raise him following Ali Baba's discovery of their secret cave), Ali takes on a leader role and fights against the tyrannical opposition to the end. Along the way, Ali Baba once more meets Amara (Maria Montez), a girl he was friends with as a child. Will Ali Baba be able to defeat his foes and win the heart of the beautiful Amara?
The production is impeccably mounted with a number of impression components that make it all the more worthwhile. The art direction by John B. Goodman (Hang 'Em High, Shadow of a Doubt) and Richard H. Riedel (Pillow Talk, Portrait in Black) works nicely alongside set decoration by Russell A. Gausman (Touch of Evil, Spartacus) and Ira Webb (Behind the Eight Ball, Rhythm of the Islands). The strong contributions of these artists give the film an aura of creativity which blends in to the scenery in style: the designs and aesthetics fit the filmmaking quite well.
The editing by Russell F. Schoengarth (The Tarnished Angels, My Man Godfrey) is another one of the strengths of the picture. The film has so many sequences which are simply a thrill to watch and this is undoubtedly due (in part) to the excellent editing. Schoengarth has a clear understanding of how to be creative with each cut of the film and the end result is a work that is compelling from start to finish. It truly grabs hold of one and doesn't let go.
The production also has impressive costumes designed by Vera West (The Man Who Laughs, Invisible Agent). Each actor and role seems well suited by West and her artistic choices as a costume designer. The costumes were well designed and fit the style of the filmmaking well. The music score composed by Edward Ward (Cobra Woman, Flying with Music) also adds some extra ambiance and excitement to the mix (and when the visuals showcase the beautiful attire of West, the music is always there to liven the experience up even more).
c80f0f1006