mark.waltz 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.

JohnHowardReid 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.

MartinHafer 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.

john-2448 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.