Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1943) User Reviews (24)

ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES (Arthur Lubin, 1944) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 8 April 2007]

The Alexander Korda production of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940) - still the quintessential Arabian Nights movie - led to a spate of colorful romps made by Hollywood studios to escape the grim everyday realities of WWII; this may not be the best or even the most enjoyable of the lot but is reasonably representative of this fantasy sub-genre.

Actually, I had intended to watch this over last year's Christmas period as it was shown on Italian TV very early one morning but the transmission started even earlier than expected and consequently I had to abort the viewing; therefore, I am grateful that (in spite of some deficiencies which I'll get to later) I remedied this through a copy of the Asian DVD I've just gotten hold of.

The film obviously deals with the famous tale of the title but here Ali Baba (Jon Hall) is the son of a deposed (and subsequently murdered) Caliph who as a boy (played by Scotty Beckett) found refuge in the thieves' hide-out inside the cave and was raised by their leader (Fortunio Bonanova) as his own son. Meanwhile, Ali's childhood friend grows up to be Maria Montez and is naturally coveted by the evil tyrant now in power at Bagdad (Kurt Katch). Andy Devine is also on hand to provide some mild comic relief as Baba's "nursemaid" and Turhan Bey (like Hall and Montez, also a regular in such diversions) is Montez's only male slave and sympathetic to Ali's cause.

As I said, the film is fairly entertaining and, as can be expected from a grade-A Universal production, handsomely mounted but it mainly survives nowadays on its high quotient of nostalgia both to people of my father's generation (who were around when this subgenre was still in full bloom) and to others who, like me, grew up on these things when they played during the summer holidays on TV. To get back to the presentation of the film on the disc I watched: while the all-important colors were not as vibrant as a full-blown restoration job would have made them look, the print was serviceable all around...were it not for the very odd fact that it omitted the opening and closing credits completely!

In any case, this satisfactory viewing has brought back fond childhood memories of similar costume pictures and has certainly whetted my appetite for more; I also received a bunch of Sinbad pictures at the same time that this disc arrived and I ought to purchase the recently released DVD of ARABIAN NIGHTS (1942) one of these days - although, frankly, I think Universal missed the boat when they didn't release it as part of an Arabian Nights franchise collection which could have also included, apart from ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES itself, any of the following: BAGDAD (1949), THE DESERT HAWK (1950), FLAME OF ARABY (1951), THE PRINCE WHO WAS A THIEF (1951) and SON OF ALI BABA (1952). This is not to mention many other such extravaganzas made by other film studios which are still unreleased on DVD like ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS (1945), SINBAD THE SAILOR (1947), THIEF OF DAMASCUS (1952), SON OF SINBAD (1955), THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1961; an Italian remake with Steve Reeves supervised by ALI BABA helmer, Arthur Lubin), THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN (1961; another Italian production which utilized the now legendary and multi-faceted talents of Mario Bava), etc. One final thing: I once missed out on a TV screening of the 1954 French version of ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES starring Fernandel and directed by Jacques Becker and, even though it doesn't have much of a reputation (especially within its director's considerable canon), I'd love to watch it for myself one day...

Classic adaptation of the popular tale in which Ali discovers the magic cave holding the stolen treasure of Baba and his forty thieves

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 30 March 2011]

Technicolor fantasy about an overthrown prince , marvelous maidens , gorgeous princess , several happy-go lucky thieves and many other things . It deals with Ali and a gang of thieves doing battle against Hulagu Khan , leader of Mongols who wants the throne for himself and orders as a hundred citizens shall be tortured to death each day , until the head of the caliph is brought before him . Being children , the prince Ali , son of Caliph (Moroni Olsen) promises eternal love to Amara . But the Mongol Army destroys the city of Baghdad with help of prince Cassin (Frank Puglia) , father of Amara. Then Ali escapes and he shelters in a cave in which thieves hide their loot. A wily young enlist the aid of a band led by Baba (Fortunio Bonanova) and Abdulla (Andy Devine is fun as nursemaid lookalike) to outwit the Grand Mongol (Kurt Katch) and to save Baghdad and its citizens from death and ruin . One time grown-up Ali (John Hall) seeks vengeance and retrieve his lover (Maria Montez of Cobra woman , Arabian nights). Baghdad in the times of the Mongol invasion the Caliph has escaped , Khan orders find him , every day until he dies a hundred of his subjects will be tortured . And so far ten years the Mongols held Baghdad and the people died in agony and only the band of thieves made resistance. A bounty is offered , ten thousand pieces of gold for the body of Ali Baba and the destruction of the band of thieves by order of Hulagu Khan of the Mongols and ruler Baghdad.

Lavish spectacle and good casting overcomes the somewhat sluggish storytelling that combines a number of familiar ¨one thousand and one nights¨ tales . Technicolor adventure fantasy adorned by beautiful cinematography by Howard Greene and George Robinson , filmed on location in Coral Pink Sand Dunes Road, Kanab, Utah, and Red Rock Canyon State Park - Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA . Striking and evocative musical score by Edward Ward . This Universal spectacle is glamorously directed by Arthur Lubin (Thief of Bagdad , Phantom of Opera , Escapade in Japan, the mule Francis series ). Easy to take , it's a good rendition of this oft-told story

Delightful Naive Adventure

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 13 November 2007]

In Baghdad, in the days of the Mongol invasion leaded by the cruel Hugalu Khan (Kurt Katch), the caliph Hassan (Moroni Olsen) is betrayed by Prince Cassim (Frank Puglia) and killed by the Mongols. His son Ali, who had just pledged love to Prince Cassim's daughter Amara, escapes and accidentally finds the magic cave Sesame, the hiding place of forty thieves leaded by Baba (Fortunio Bonanova). Ali is adopted by Baba, who assigns the strong Abdullah (Andy Devine) to protect him. For ten years, the Mongols held Baghdad, and Ali Baba (Jon Hall) becomes the leader of the forty thieves, now beloved by the population for challenging the invaders. When the thieves acknowledge that a caravan is bringing Lady Amara (Maria Montez) to marry the tyrant Hugalu Khan, Ali Baba meets her bathing and does not recognize her. The Mongols capture him and he believes she betrayed him. Amara's servant Jamiel (Turhan Bey) helps Ali Baba, and the thieves rescue him in Baghdad and abduct Amara. In the garden of Prince Cassim's garden, they have recollections of their childhood, but they do not recognize each other. When Ali finds the truth, he fights for his love and for the freedom of Baghdad.

"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is a delightful naive adventure that brings me back to my childhood, when I loved to see the movie because of the magic cave that opened and closed with the commands: "- Open, Oh Sesame!", or "- Close, Oh Sesame!". The story is simple, with the evil Hugalu Khan in the always invaded Baghdad; the traitor Prince Cassim; the forty bandits that become good guys; the hero Ali Baba and the heroine Amara, and lots of action for children and adults. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Ali Baba e os Quarenta Ladrões" ("Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves")

They don't make 'em like this any more.

[Cajun-4 · 5 August 2000]

I saw this a few days ago after a gap of many years and it's still fun to watch. There was a whole spate of these highly colored Arabian Nights adventures in the 1940's and audiences lapped them up. The fun now is in the apparent seriousness with which they were made and the earnestness of not very good actors and actresses spouting there quasi poetic dialog.

These films were bonanzas for the exotic looking performers of the period, Turhan Bey, Jon Hall and Maria Montez (one of the lust objects of my adolescence). She would often wear quite revealing see-through dresses and there was always at least one scene where she emerged from a bath or swimming pool, quickly being discretely covered by large towels borne by hand-maidens.

Extras were cheap in those days and so there is a cast of thousands but most of the time the director does no more than fill the screen with bodies. Look at the battle scenes and you will see most of the participants are just waving their scimitars in the air aimlessly.

Ali Baba has wicked caliphs and valiant freedom fighters battling it out in the Hollywood desert. The ridiculousness of the All American Andy Devine as an Arab. Fairy tale cardboard castles. All makes for colorful entertainment.

I give it 8 out 10.

If only we thought of Bahgdad like this now!

[sharkey197 · 7/10 · 31 December 2006]

I first saw this movie as a child when it ran every night for a week (and extras on the weekend) on something called Million Dollar MOvie that used to show the same film all week. I watched it over and over until I had the script practically memorized. I was fascinated by the location, the exotic story, the love interest and the gorgeous costumes, even though I originally only saw it in black and white.

Years later, I saw it in color, as a full grown adult and realized that this movie is one that can take me instantly back to my childhood, into a wonderful world of a fantastic story that still holds my interest today. With the eyes of the adult, I can see that it's sort of a "B" picture, but it does have really nice production values. Maria Montez is breathtakingly lovely and I adore the fact that she's so tall and statuesque. No skinny little model type, but a real womanly presence. Jon Hall is the perfect leading man. Actually the dialog is rather good, a sort of stylized script that lends itself very well to the story. There is a glaring anachronism in it, which just shows that Hollywood wasn't too concerned with accuracy back then. All the talk of Allah, and they bury Old Babba under a cross! In our world today, when there is so much hatred between the western word and the Muslim countries, it's rather wistful to realize that these characters were all Muslims, even if that word wasn't mentioned. They do refer to Ramadan and Allah and to realize that the country involved is Iraq does give one pause. Isn't it a shame that this lovely ancient world has such an unfortunate connotation today? This movie, for all its flaws, shows the Muslim world in a very good light.

I so wish it was available on DVD. I would buy it, if for no other reason than it's one of my childhood films. And besides, I still can practically recite the script!

Long on action, short on romance!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 30 August 2017]

Producer: Paul Malvern. Copyright 31 December 1943 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York release at the Palace: 15 March 1944. U.S. release: 14 January 1944. U.K. release: 13 March 1944. Australian release: 14 August 1944. Sydney release at the State: 9 August 1944. 10 reels. 87 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: The patriots of old Bagdad, under the leadership of Ali Baba Junior, throw off the Mongol yoke.

COMMENT: Maria Montez was a unique personality. Fortunately, Universal soon realized this. For her 9th film, "Arabian Nights", the studio opened its door to three-step Technicolor for the first time. The experiment was such a success there followed White Savage, Ali Baba, Cobra Woman, Gypsy Wildcat, Sudan and Pirates of Monterey in rapid succession. Ali Baba is one of the best of these — a carefully crafted, expansive production that does full justice to her talents and her appeal.

Filmed on a fairly lavish scale, with vast sets and on-location lensing with lots of colorfully costumed extras milling around, "Ali Baba" features plenty of action, directed at a nifty pace with agreeable camera angles and an occasionally (yet very effective) fluid camera style, underscored by loads of Universal-type "B" music. It all adds up to a movie buff's — and especially a Maria Montez buff's — delight.

Maria also has the opportunity to do her famous impersonating-her- servant-girl turn as well as her usual royal princess bit. My one and only criticism is that the plot prevents her making an early entrance. We have to wait almost two whole reels!

Quite apart from Miss Montez, the superb sets and superlative exquisite color photography make Ali Baba a visual delight.

Oddly enough, the cave itself with its obvious paper-mâché opening rocks and its disappointing lack of all the interior opulence we might expect, is the one real let-down. All other sets are as richly dressed as are the opulent costumes, while the attractive presence of Miss Montez herself is made even more entrancing by skillful make-up, costuming and hair styles. And all are rapturously, ravishingly photographed in rich, pastel-toned colors.

The support players are not much — Mr. Hall is obviously too mature for his part, and he's a second-rate swashbuckler at that; Frank Puglia and Kurt Katch are hardly the most crafty or charismatic pair of villains; Andy Devine is a most unlikely thief (though at least we are spared his customary over-indulgence in low comedy relief); Turhan Bey makes a lackluster accomplice. But at least they don't detract too much attention from Miss Montez! (It is the juveniles who keep us waiting — though Master Beckett and Miss Duguay are presentable enough. Their footage was re-used in its entirety in the 1965 remake.)

Stylishly directed by Universal contract director Arthur Lubin, this tale is now long on action, short on romance.

In fact, Edmund L. Hartmann's script makes considerable changes in the original story, turning it into a routine desert adventure. Still, it is a spirited enough tale, directed with dash in vivid color against sumptuous sets, and zestfully played by a grand cast. Maria Montez makes a queenly heroine, Jon Hall a vigorous hero, Kurt Katch a wonderfully sinister villain, while Andy Devine and Chris- Pin Martin provide some mildly amusing comic relief.

Colorful adventure yarn

[searchanddestroy-1 · 7/10 · 24 November 2021]

Only Universal pictures in the forties had the secret of such beautiful films, starring Maria Montez and Jon Hall, even pulled by naive and run fo the mill stories, predictable and nearly always on the same scheme. But who cares? After all, Paramount Pictures also gave us terrific adventures movies in the fifties, directed by the likes of Eddie Ludwig and Lewis R Foster. At Universal they had directors such as Arthur Lubin, John Rawlins, George Waggner, Curt Siodmak. These kinds of films, such as this very on are purely beautiful jewells, full of enchantment, especially for those like me for whom those features remind the childhood. Remember SUDAN, ARABIAN NIGHTS, WHITE SAVAGE, full of exotic charm. You don't find such films any more.

Current parallel

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 6 July 2014]

When Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves came out in 1944 we and most of the rest of the world were waging war against tyranny. Although this retelling of the famous Arabian Nights tale about as far removed from the current situation as you could get, still the folks at Universal Pictures definitely had the current war in mind.

The Mongols are bent on world conquest and they've reached the Caliphate of Bagdad and as the Caliph Moroni Olsen is preparing to counterattack he's betrayed by one of his key noble allies Frank Puglia. Olsen is killed but his son escapes and lives. The boy Scotty Beckett grows up to be Jon Hall and seeks refuge among the band of thieves who have that legendary magic cave where they hide out and stash their loot that opens with the words 'open sesame'. Their leader Fortunio Bonanova adopts the boy and the young prince becomes a thief.

At the palace the young girl he played with as a kid is Puglia's daughter and she grows up to be Maria Montez. Puglia has big plans for her, he wants Montez to marry the great Hulagu Khan himself played by Kurt Katch.

The casting of Katch who incidentally in real life was Jewish played any number of Nazi thug types during and after the war. The casting here was by no means an accident. And Puglia could be taken for any number of collaborator figures like Quisling or Laval. The meaning was quite clear to World War II audiences.

Jon Hall and Maria Montez made any number of these kinds of exotic adventure films for Universal Pictures and became a popular screen team. They look as Middle Eastern as Barry Fitzgerald, but they were good looking and the movie-going public ate it up.

The film is easy to take with clear cut heroes and villains. Which in 1944 no one could mistake.

A Guilty FAVORITE of mine!

[billfishfanatic · 10/10 · 8 February 2007]

I have a fairly sophisticated taste in cinema classics so I am a bit ashamed to rate this as one of my Favorite films of all time. I must cite first and foremost the sublime and under-rated masterpiece of a score by Edward Ward WHICH DESERVES A CD FOR SURE!!-Kurt Katch as Hulagu Khan is one of the screens most odious villains and the very fast pace all add to it's delight.....FOR ME-Weird, but not once in the entire film does handsome Jon Hall as Ali ever actually kiss Lady Amara, the exotic Maria Montez! Another bonus is the the vision of loveliness that is GORGEOUS Ramsay Ames as the incredibly HOT, sexy and traitorous lady in waiting Nalu who betrays her mistress-I just have to own up that GULP....I love this flick! PS-What a tragedy that Bagdad today is not the happy one that we find at this film's conclusion. SO SAD.

Fun Technicolor fluff, courtesy of Universal

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 5 August 2016]

Amara (Yvette Duguay) and Ali (Scotty Beckett) exchange blood as children, to symbolize their love. They are separated, and Alis' father, Caliph of Baghdad, is murdered. Ali gets away, finds the Forty Thieves' lair, and falls asleep. He is discovered, but allowed to live. Ten years go by. Ali (Hall) finds Amara (Montez) bathing. The delirious plot goes from there, making brief stops in the land of operetta and mis-choreographed musical numbers.

The person in charge of Technicolor went wild in this film. The characters' clothes are color coordinated with their surroundings (the escaped prince is wearing pink and white--the boulders surrounding him are white and pink, etc). There is one main castle--it changes color depending on whether it's day or night, and according to what colors Montez is wearing. The insides of the castle change color from shot to shot, from green to beige to pink. William Fritzsche, Universal's Associate Technicolor consultant, created a dream world where the sky can be green (literally) and anything can happen.

The actors' looks are more important than their performances. Jon Hall is predictably heroic and dim. Maria Montez is drop dead gorgeous; her accent is thicker than usual, and she rolls her r's for some reason, making it hard to guess what some of her lines are. Turhan Bey is good in a bad guy/good guy role. Andy Devine has a relatively small role, so he doesn't do much damage.

This blissfully silly romp is worth seeking out.

The Technicolor is Pretty Spiffy

[john-2448 · 5/10 · 14 October 2006]

I'm mostly commenting just to double the number of comments on this film. The film has a nice brisk pace and attractive leads. It's mostly a fun light-hearted piece of escapist entertainment, with the only problems being that the sets, costumes, and Andy Devine all keep reminding us that it is a Hollywood film being staged for the cameras. The sets often look horribly fake, the costumes look brand new and freshly dry-cleaned, in order to look good in Technicolor one supposes. The back projections are just awful, and absurdly fake.

There's one scene when the 40 thieves are riding off furiously in a cloud of dust, as seen from a distance. Then we get a close up of the three leaders, each in turn, wearing bright clean clothes, and apparently sitting on coin-operated horses in front of some grainy back projection. It's unintentionally funny. And Andy Devine is the least convincing Arab thief ever. He's supposed to be comic relief, akin to Friar Tuck in many versions of Robin Hood. However, his line readings are awful, with his voice cracking most of the time, apparently in an attempt at humor. It's as if he strolled on to the wrong set, grabbed a freshly laundered costume and misguidedly decided to join in.

If you watch Ali Baba today, it can be viewed as a commentary on the US presence in Iraq. An outside invader (here the Mongols) has sacked and overtaken Baghdad. A popular insurrection boils in the countryside, but is dismissed by the invaders as merely the work of thieves and troublemakers. The occupier goes in for torture and bullying of the opposition, etc. The film does date from the middle of WWII, so it is unsurprising if some references to war and then-current events seeps through.

If you want to see a better film on this theme, I'd recommend Douglass Fairbanks in The Thief of Baghdad. (I haven't seen the 1940 Sabu re-make yet). Or for those more adventurous in their cinematic tastes, Lotte Reiniger's The Adventures of Prince Achmed is an amazing silhouette animation film from 1926, which is stunningly beautiful.

While far from a sophisticated movie, this one is fun.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 5 January 2010]

Universal Studios made some interesting films in the early to mid 1940s. Interesting because the films were like a merger between A and B-movies. They were like A-budget films because the sets were amazing for the time and they were often shot in gloriously garish Technicolor--making the films very bright and bigger than life. But, in an interesting move, the studio also placed B-movie quality actors and writing in the films. While this makes the films less than sophisticated, it also made them wonderful campy entertainment--the sort of thing that kids loved at the time and parents could also enjoy.

This is yet another pairing of hunky Jon Hall (who looked sort of like Errol Flynn and Howard Keel) and Maria Montez--an odd woman to pair with Hall because of her very thick accent. In fact, in this film, set in Baghdad, it's awfully strange to see the red-headed Montez and notice that she sounds nothing like anyone else in the film--not that any of them really seemed the least big like Iraqis. And, when it came to the Mongols, they, too, didn't seem particularly Mongolian. Whereas nowadays this would be a major deficit, at the time this sort of bizarro casting was the norm--so I'll cut them a bit of slack here.

The film is a major re-working (i.e., complete re-write) of the classic tale of Ali Baba. The film finds the young Ali Baba (Jon Hall) an orphan after his father, the Caliph, is betrayed and murdered by his best friend. Ali's goal is revenge, but he's without much means AND he's in love with the betrayer's hot daughter (Montez). Ultimately, you KNOW that he'll both get the girl and see the scumbag die--as well as the villainous Mongols who took over his beloved land. But, how all this plays out is much of the fun.

As I said, this is NOT sophisticated. The dialog, at times, is pack full of clichés and the casting is odd--with Montez and Andy Divine (of all people) in the film. About the only one who looks right in the film is a young Turhan Bey--who actually looks like he could be an Iraqi. But, the action is nice, the sets amazing and the look of the film quite fairy tale-like. Wonderful Saturday morning fun. A must-see for those who like this sort of thing (like me), though when seen today many might laugh at some parts of the film.

Not the camp classic I had hoped for.

[MOscarbradley · 6/10 · 20 April 2015]

If "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" isn't quite the camp classic it might have been it is, nevertheless, a spirited adventure yarn that young kids should get a buzz out of; (their parents won't find it too much of a chore either). It's probably the best known tale of the Arabian Nights, at least as far as children are concerned, and this version, directed by Arthur Lubin and gorgeously shot in Technicolour by W. Howard Greene and George Robinson, is an enjoyably painless entertainment. Conceived as another vehicle for its trio of 'stars', Maria Montez, an aging but reasonably nimble Jon Hall as Ali Baba and a boyish Turhan Bey cast, yet again, as a sidekick, it also features those stalwart supporting actors Andy Devine, Fortunio Bonanova and Frank Puglia lending sterling support. Hardly memorable but good matinée fare.

Exit the Woodcutter, enter the Prince

[jgcorrea · 4/10 · 28 November 2019]

A boy prince, raised by forty thieves, takes revenge on the Mongol invaders who murdered his father and stole his kingdom. This blissfully silly romp , an adventure fantasy featuring a plot very different from the one in the fairy tale, is still worth seeking out thanks to the director Arthur Lubin, who was never a great artist, but very often a competent craftsman. I'd have stayed true, however, to the constant story told in Arabian Nights, as follows: Ali Baba, a poor Arab woodcutter, bumps into the treasure of a group of forty thieves in the forest, suddenly passing a cloud of dust with precisely 40 thieves. The treasure of thieves is in a cave, which is opened by magic. When the robbers leave, Ali Baba enters the cave, and takes part of the treasure home.

Entertaining film with some issues that displays a surprising amount of historical knowledge

[skutah · 8/10 · 31 March 2019]

This movie is a colourful adventure movie that is greatly entertaining if you like this old technicolor style of Orientalist films. I mainly love it because of two things: fond childhood memories from a time when I even watched it on a black and white TV set in the mid-80s and [name=nm0700084]'s Prince Cassim.

This actor has played small parts in a couple of classic movies and often appeared alongside some of the big names of his days, but it is in this movie and a couple of later productions mainly that he got a chance to show more of his talent and skills. His expressions and his work with his voice are formidable and he is seriously underrated as his range of characters is pretty impressive. Not to speak about how he managed to make this villain character mean and miserable, contemptible and touching at the same time. His Prince Cassim to me has always been the character with the most depth in this film.

That said, the film is of course to be classified as strongly Orientalist and escapist, it never lets you forget that you're watching a piece of Hollywood fiction with main characters that are boringly one-sided (good or bad) and it avoids answering the most interesting question: What Ali would've done with Cassim if he had faced the decision as he was the father of Ali's beloved and future wife who - as a good daughter - still had a soft spot for her dad despite his awful misbehaviour. But all of this is part of the style of this sort of movies at the time and therefore I find it excusable.

On the other hand the interweaving of 13th century history with a tale from the 1001 nights is done in an amazingly apt manner as the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols is in fact attributed to the machinations of a treacherous vizier (along with an incompetent caliph) in some sources, the caliph was actually killed by the Mongols and there was indeed a fugitive who claimed to be a surviving member of the dynasty and subsequently continued the line of the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad in Egypt. Therefore there might've been more knowledge at work than one would expect from this type of light entertainment and I'm wondering how they came to mix these ingredients with the Ali Baba story.

All things considered I rate this 8 out of 10 because my 21st century adult self is unable to overlook the issues listed above.

Fine film-editing

[crni_sin · 2 April 2012]

What I have noticed, which I think greatly glues this film to the viewers impression after so many lapsed years, is solid non-ambitious scenario, it is an easy story, really, yet some tricks of great master of film making are: 1. joining 3 totals, from 3 different angles, with no loss of trill in action, each total represented new information about the horse chase. 2. transition in memory sequences of protagonist, with water-surface blur transitions,which is rarely used, do not know why, because it is well crafted thing. 3. Using comedy actor which has comedy charisma to play one of major side rolls. Just his appearance provokes humor, which is essential for benevolent character of this like fairy tale story. 4. Ambient of orient, carefully picked scenery for scenes made near water manifest longings and cravings for love, freedom, better life, and emphasize the strong inner romantic feelings of protagonists...

Has the color, but is missing the magic.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 6 November 2017]

This follow-up to "Arabian Nights" lacks the passion of it's predecessor, unrelated in plot and character, but still tied together. It's the old story of the prince who became a thief after his King father was assassinated, with orders for his own death. As he had already done, Jon Hall is the Caucasian actor supposed to be believable as an Arab. In hiding for years, he is reunited with childhood sweetheart Maria Montez as he strives to take back his legacy. There's comedy with portly Andy Devine, villainy with Turhan Bey, but no genie's, magic lamps or flying carpets, although Devine does mention them.

Still entertaining, I'm sure that when I saw this at a Saturday matinée as a child, I enjoyed it far more than I did, and when I saw it after its VHS release, it ranked a 7. But in comparison to others of this theme, it is much weaker, both in continuity and believability. While the young actor playing Ali Baba is consistent with Hall's lack of any accent, the young actress playing the young Montez sounds as American as Hall, lacking any hint of a Spanish accent. Had this been "Road to Morocco" with Dorothy Lamour in the role of the lavishly dressed princess, at least the consistency would be there.

This lavishly looking production, equivalent in scope to MGM's "Kismet" the same year, is probably one of Universal's most expensive films of the year, and as a colorful work of art, it is never dull. A well staged sword dance and several fight sequences speeds things up a bit, but it just is lacking one good spectacular sequence with special effects. Oh, should I mention the lack of Sabu as well and the corny dialog that made "White Savage" and "Cobra Woman" become camp classics? But it did leave me with a smile on my face, so that should count for something in its favor.

Open Oh Sesame

[howardeisman · 8/10 · 19 April 2012]

I saw a high quality, restored color DVD the other day, and now I know how my career as an artist began. I saw this when I was almost 8 years old when it first came out in original technicolor. The scenes where young Ali Baba finds the thieves' ecave, opens it (Open oh sesame,), and then steps into thatwonderously colored cave of great treasures hooked me for life intodepicting explosions of whirling colors I might have seen a black and white version of this on TV in the inmterum, but this new DVD almost captures the gaudy vividness of the original. As for the rest of the film, well, just okay.

You can sit back and enjoy it despite a juvenile plot, risible miscasting, and very obvious sets. But who cares! It is an advantage that Maria Montez has such a thick Dominican accent. Her struggle to get her lines out in a comprehensible manner gives her face some actual expression. John Hall looked silly with his thin mustache; he looked not only more authentic but much better when in disguise with a full beard. Andy Devine was okay for the kids.. Fortunio Bonavura did not have a decent line. But who cares.

Once the forty thieves got to galloping and kicking, up sand riding in the desert, it becomes pure fun-even if they were wearing baby blue robes and shocking pink headdresses.

Wonderful early 1940's Technicolor classic!

[DavidW1947 · 10/10 · 2 December 2010]

All in all, one of the best, if not thee best, of the Universal American Arabian Nights fantasies made during the 1940's, with rousing action; glorious early Technicolor and a wonderful music score by the little known, but obviously very talented, Edward Ward that captures the atmosphere of the film superbly. Even Miklos Rozsa himself couldn't have done a better job on it. Scotty Beckett's performance as young Ali throughout fourteen minutes of the first reel (seventeen minutes) of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is totally mesmerising and wonderful. If only he could have played Ali throughout the whole film. From the start of the second reel, with Jon Hall playing Ali as a grown up, the film seems to change mood abruptly. It's still very good and entertaining, but never regains the heights it achieved in the first reel. In turn, Scotty looks so proud: "I will never fail you or Baghdad, father!", he says, with his head held high. Genuinely afraid (the murder of his father in the ambush and the burning of the boats and his first encounter with the magic stone doors in the mountain wall) and touched by magic and an incredible childlike sense of wonder as he discovers the treasures of the thieves' cave. You are there with him and feel just as he feels. It's an incredible performance for a boy of 12, going on 13.

I love watching him in this first reel and he is what you see on the screen and what you see is what you get. He must have been wonderful to know and to have as a friend in those days and it's obvious that after that, as he grew into his teenage years, something terrible must have happened to him. Why? Perhaps he was let down and abandoned and betrayed by those he misguidedly loved and trusted. The same thing happened to the likes of Bobby Driscoll and Darren Burn. A human tragedy of immense proportions in all three cases. Nonetheless, it's still wonderful to see what a fine and unique young boy and child actor Scotty Beckett was, before his world came crashing down around him. Wherever he is now, in some heavenly world of spirit, I hope and pray he has found contentment and happiness. His portrayal of young Ali in this film was, in my opinion, his crowning achievement and it's worth buying the DVD of this film just to see him in it.

I highly recommend this film, which has been so beautifully restored from the original Technicolor negatives, that it looks marvellous and both sound and picture are as clear as the proverbial bell and the film looks like it was made yesterday, although it is, in fact, sixty-seven years old, having been made in 1943 and released in 1944. In fact, the image quality is so good that the film has also been released on a Blue Ray disc.

The Best of the Montez-Hall Movies

[OldFilmLover · 9/10 · 28 July 2017]

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is the best of the Montez-Hall movies, ahead of Arabian Nights, which perhaps deserves an 8, Cobra Woman, which deserves a 7, and White Savage, which deserves only slightly over a 6. My 9 rating is perhaps a bit high -- maybe 8.4-8.6 would be more accurate -- but I give it a 9 in protest against the ridiculously low IMDb average.

What sets this above all the others is the script; both plot and dialogue are superior. The performances are also livelier, the acting better (both of the leads, Hall and Montez, and of the supporting cast), and the feeling of forward movement in the story much greater.

In fact, I rank this film third, all-time, among classic adventure films in which only normal human beings with normal human powers are involved (no genies, dragons, gods, animated skeletons, Jedi knights, etc.), and which are not at least part tongue-in-cheek (like the Indiana Jones films). Only The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Mark of Zorro are better in this category. (Though The Black Swan, The Most Dangerous Game and a few others come close.)

Kurt Katch turns in a great performance as the evil Hulagu Khan. To the 7-to-13-year-olds who crowded the Saturday matinée in 1944, Katch's Khan would be the classic portrayal of the tyrant. Of course, to adult eyes, Katch's performance is over-acted, but films in this genre have to be judged with their intended audience in mind.

Special mention should go to Turhan Bey, and to Frank Puglia as Montez's sycophantic father. The only performance which could be thought a flaw in the film is that of Andy Devine, as the fat "comedy relief" thief. The "cowboy humour" he brings from his other roles seems a bit out of place in a basically high-toned, medieval-flavoured tale about the Muslim and Mongol Middle East. I could have done without him. Still, he was doing what the part called for, so really any blame should be assigned to the writer and director rather than Devine himself. And again, we have to consider the primary audience for the film (though adults can enjoy it, too) was the kids -- and that sort of comedy relief would be what many 40s kids liked.

The music, camera work, and Technicolor are all first-rate. The film is polished. When 1940s Universal did one of its rare, big-budget "A"-list movies, it could do it very well.

Love, courage, nobility; a despicable Oriental tyrant and a people groaning under his heel; the transformation of thieves into patriots; action, glamour, spectacle, and a rousing climax -- this film is a perfect piece of sheer entertainment.

I watched this movie with my kids over and over again when they were young. They loved it. It's a great family movie if you have pre-teen kids who have not yet been jaded by the modern emphasis on loudness and special effects, and can still accept the older styles of acting and storytelling because they have the openness of childhood. If you start them out on Indiana Jones and Star Wars, it may be impossible for them to go back later and really enjoy these older-style adventure movies. Give them this experience while they can still enjoy it.

Still the nursemaid...

[Web_Of_Doom · 8/10 · 26 October 2022]

A well written & acted film with a very good enjoyable family movie plot that generally makes perfect sense & takes you on an adventurous journey that has real heart & soul in the characters, which you can enjoy throughout.

There are a few moments in the film that were way too convenient in the plot that pulls the score down 1 star & some of the scenes could have been done better with more of an explanation to the audience of what the characters motivation was to act in a certain way which loses it another star for me.

Overall though how a film should be made, so when you see it was made in 1944 it does make you wonder why so many films made 60 to 80 years later do not realise the importance of a very good script & it being acted in a truly believable way by very talented character actors who are a real true credit.

Definitely worth watching a few times & can enjoy watching with the family no matter their age, as there is some good morals to be learned in this story.

A classic and beautifully filmed adventure story

[shakspryn · 10/10 · 18 January 2023]

This is a superb, unforgettable adventure movie, which is appealing on so many levels: it has a beautiful heroine and a handsome hero. The vibrant colors of this 1943 film are a joy to behold. And the costumes! Never, ever has any Hollywood film boasted more spectacular costumes than you will see here! Why, it's worth seeing this movie for the costumes alone! For just one example among dozens, check out the handsome outfit the main villain is wearing in the final scenes.

As an adventure movie, it succeeds completely. The action is fast-paced from the start. The scenes of the forty thieves, galloping all-out across the desert, are splendid and exciting. The supporting character actors, Andy Devine and Turhan Bey, have never had a better movie than this.

Are there criticisms one could make? Sure. The movie does use some "process" shots when characters are supposed to be riding horses, and we see them in close-up. But something like that is a very minor quibble.

This movie has earned a 10 rating, because it succeeds brilliantly in what the filmmakers wanted to do: create an entertaining story, full of beauty and spectacle. There will always be some people who prefer a serious film, with tragic themes, to a movie like this. For instance, "The Grapes of Wrath" was a powerful story filled with very poor people, social realism and a lot of tragedy. I saw it once a long time ago, and that was enough! "Ali Baba" is a movie I could happily watch 10 times.

Grand Arabian adventure

[coltras35 · 8/10 · 3 June 2021]

When Baghdad falls to the Mongol invaders and his father, the caliph, is killed, Ali Baba escapes to the hills where he is adopted by a band of noble thieves. Ali becomes their leader and swears to avenge his father's death

There been a few adaptations of Ali baba and 40 thieves, but I think this is the most definitive one, and simmers in glorious technicolour, and has good performances, especially from Jon Hall, who, as Ali Baba conveys the determination he has to avenge his father. The swordplay is well-staged, the villainy, especially from Hulagu Khan, is first rate - this is a lively rendition of a story from the Arabian nights. I loved the cave, though it appeared a bit plastic as it opened to the call of "open sesame."

Great movie funny and fun

[sadie_m_lady · 10/10 · 20 December 2020]

The acting is pricless great story fun lots of laughs and love Another movie I'm not sure why it is it released to buy or view come on Hollywood