The whole of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves has that kind of feel to it. It's a cheaply-produced Arabian Nights tale that doesn't try too hard to be anything but a simple, colorful adventure. In the days of the Mongol invasion, the son of the Caliph of Bagdad avoids murder and is brought up by a band of forty thieves, who name him Ali Baba. When he is fully grown (played by Jon Hall), he fights to take back Baghdad and restore himself as leader and be reunited with his childhood girlfriend, who has grown up into the stunning Amara (Maria Montez). There are swordfights, romantic moonlit interludes, thundering horses, evil villains, defiant heroes, and almost every color under the rainbow. There's even a secret cave that can only be opened or closed by shouting, "Open, Oh Sesame!" and "Close, Oh Sesame!" (There are also cheap sets and not very convincing back-projection mixed in with actual location shots. Just go with it.)
Arabian Nights (1942) had been the first teaming of Maria Montez and Jon Hall, and it was box office gold. Universal promptly paired the duo five more times, in White Savage (1943), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Cobra Woman (1944), Gypsy Wildcat (1944) and Sudan (1945). As can be deduced from the titles, these films are all of a type -- escapist fantasy, pure and simple. They are also all in Technicolor and feature Montez in dazzling, scanty outfits. It wasn't for nothing that she became known as the Queen of Technicolor. Despite the fact that the Dominican-born Montez couldn't sing, dance or act very well, she came along at the right time, with her exotic, glamorous beauty perfect for the wildly escapist fare that audiences craved during World War II. Films like these are almost never talked about these days, but it is important to remember just how loved they were; it says much about American tastes and popular culture of the time.
Ali Baba is no Cobra Woman or Arabian Nights (yes, these silly-yet-pleasurable films can be ranked), but it sure delivers as a guilty pleasure for 87 minutes. Its alluring color cinematography (by W. Howard Greene and George Robinson) has been sufficiently transferred by Universal onto DVD, though the picture has not received an extensive restoration. The color doesn't exactly pop like the brightest of the restored Technicolor productions, but it still looks quite good. Edward Ward's score is perfectly attuned to the material -- shamelessly, wonderfully, over-the-top.
Universal has released Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves as part of its "Universal Backlot Series." Three other titles now available as single, stand-alone discs are The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936), Lonely are the Brave (1962) and Beau Geste (1939). The latter was previously available on DVD and has not been upgraded or restored since, but the others are new to DVD and well worth a look. Lonesome Pine is one of the most important Technicolor films of its time, and Lonely are the Brave is a fascinating, genre-blending western, Kirk Douglas' favorite of all his films.
For more information about Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, visit Universal Home Entertainment. To order Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, go to TCM Shopping.
by Jeremy Arnold
