Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944)
Orphaned as a young child and adopted by a band of notorious thieves, now-grown Ali Baba sets out to avenge his father’s murder, reclaim the royal throne, and rescue his beloved Amara from the iron fist of his treacherous enemy.
- Arthur Lubin
- Edmund L. Hartmann
Rating: 6.2/10 by 34 users
Alternative Title:
Ali Baba et les 40 voleurs - FR
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Italiano
Runtime: 01 hour 27 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: gang of thieves, bagdad, mongol, arabian nights, caliph
This bright and colourful cannibalisation of several "Arabian Nights" style stories sees Jon Hall play the prince robbed of his birthright by the evil Mongol Khan and his uncle "Prince Cassim", who has fallen in with the 40 Thieves since childhood and is bent on avenging this treachery. Maria Montez provides the glamour (and an accent you could cut with a knife) as the feisty, independently-minded Princess as we embark on some fun adventures. Andy Devine is dreadful as "Abdullah" but Kurt Katch hams up nicely and entertainingly as "The Khan". The film looks great and some of the swashbuckling sword fights well staged, but the acting is wooden, the script more so and the score intrusive (almost as if it were written for a silent film). It's a decent filler performance, but not amongst the best of the genre.
