Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1954)

Beautiful, moving film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

it is strange to expect more than a nice comedy, not very sophisticated but good occasion for discover the art of Fernandel. in fact, it is one of examples of the seduction of Orient, not very far by the original story but a lovely version, less dramatic and using in smart way the classic clichés. Fernandel is the perfect Ali Baba, giving to his character a sweet vulnerability and a specific charm. and Morguiana, she is the belly dancer who knows to inspire her role from the easy elements of Oriental civilization. so, one of refuge - comedy. after a long work day.

is only actor of this movie. nice, charming, naive. a page from an old book. leaf of a death tree. a film who explore, not very well, the Arabian fascination. the recipes - Hollywood cuisine. the cast - beautiful girls like shadows of autumn. the action - childish and too precious. result - an amusing trip, few nostalgic memories and nothing else. bad thing - the possibilities to make a real interesting movie. and the choice for a sketch about fake universe. film of a legendary comedian, Ali Baba is not just temple on shoulders of Samson. it is only exercise for a public of ""plaisanteries and wist of time. but in every thing is measure. this movie is exception. for few middle expectations. so, the thief is the director. and Ali Baba is only shadow of a great comedian t end of his career.

Considered in France Jacques Becker's worst film,the only one that has nothing to recommend it.The story is not very well told ,which is a shame for a very famous Arabian story.Walt Disney did a whole lot better with his Aladdin.Anyway,the man who could achieve such a task in France had not yet made any movie at the time:of course it was Jacques Demy who worked wonders with "Peau d'Ane" and "the pied piper".It was to be Becker's only color movie (he was to experiment wide screen in "Le Trou" with stunning results)and it's a pity that it was not ,say,"Casque D'or". Fernandel was too old to be a credible Ali.And the woman's lib will moan and groan when they see him on his donkey,followed by his wife who runs behind him.

Ali Baba is the servant of a rich merchant. One day, his master send him to the market to buy a woman slave. There, he find Morgiane, a beautiful dancer who is being sold by her own father. And he instantly become passionate for her. In the next day, he finds the cave where 40 thieves keep their stolen treasures. As he heard the magic words that open the cave's door, he can enter and steel some of the money kept there. So, Ali Baba becomes rich and buy Morgiane from his master. All seemed to be OK but the chief of the gang of thieves is pursuing Ali. After some laughable situations, Ali Baba, in the end, marry with Morgiane and give the money in the cave to the poor and the needed of the city. This is a funny version of the famous tale of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. In the leading role, we have Fernandel, a french comedian of the 40's and 50's, who was very popular here in my country, Portugal. Of course, it's not a movie in which the director wanted to make a masterpiece, but I think it's a good comedy about exotic people and landscapes. It was filmed on Taroudant, at 80 km from Agadir, on the south of Morocco. And it was the work of Georges Wakhevitch, who designed the memorable cave who opens with the command "Sesame, Open". In reality, it was a mobile door arranged against a true cave on the valley of Sous, the region from where are the 4000 Berbers who figure on the film. The feminine star on the movie, the Morgiane character, is played by a Egyptian dancer and actress, Samia Gamal, who became a star of the Egyptian cinema and who married a Texan oil magnate, overwhelmed by her womb dances.