Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves has become somewhat of a popular fairy tale with parts derived from Arabian Nights (in which it first appeared) and The Book of One Thousand and One Nights and has drifted somewhat from the original story into something more adventurous and romantic. In the case of this 1944 film, it is really a matter of forget everything you thought you knew about the Ali Baba legend as it will do you absolutely no good in attempting to follow this path and will only muddle things up if you attempt to apply the facts to this story.

Incorporating some real historical facts, the film begins just after Hulagu Khan and his Mongolian army had successfully conquered Baghdad. The Calif has barely escaped with his life from captivity and, with his young son Ali, has sought refuge at Prince Cassim's mansion. There he plans to regroup what remains of his army and drive the invaders out of Baghdad. Whilst they are staying there, a romance blossoms between Prince Cassim's daughter, Amara, and Ali and they become betrothed via blood bond. Unbeknownst to the Calif, Prince Cassim has betrayed him to the Mongolians and, when he prepares to leave, is ambushed and all of his party is killed with only Ali escaping, carrying with him a chain which belonged to his father and is only worn by the Calif.

After initially seeking refuge in the river, hidden by a boat, Ali had to swim to safety when all the boats were torched and, with nowhere to go, he wandered the desert but then stumbled on a strange mountainside where 40 men on horseback rode out of an opening which closed behind them when their leader said "Close Sesame!" When the men are out of sight, Ali stands before the huge rock face and tries to work out what the magic phrase is to open the hidden doors. Eventually working out that the opposite of their command is "Open Oh-Sesame", he gains access to the thieves' hideout and is amazed by the riches he finds inside. When the men return, they find the boy asleep on the floor but, rather than kill him, they are impressed by his fighting spirit and the chain that proves that he is who he says he claims to be. The leader, Old Baba, adopts the boy as his own son and, after a little wrangling about his name, settles on Ali Baba.


There is then a 10 year ellipsis during which the 40 thieves have become a band of freedom fighters who rob from the Mongolians and give their ill gotten gains to the poor in a Robin Hood version of wealth distribution, becoming very popular amongst the Baghdad population in the process. Ali Baba is determined to get revenge on his father's murderer and will do almost anything to gain access to Prince Cassim. When they learn that a caravan transporting the Khan's new bride is headed for Baghdad, it seems like a perfect opportunity to plunder some more riches but Ali is suspicious and decides to scout out by himself with Abdullah, his 'nursemaid'. When Ali learns that the woman is in fact Amara, his betrothed, he decides to follow the caravan rather than rob it and finds one of the women bathing in a lake. The woman is Amara but, because of the length of time since they have seen one another, neither recognises the other, something not helped by her pretending to be a servant girl (the only way she could leave her tent and go bathing by herself) and Ali describing himself as a simple traveller, not the infamous leader of the band of thieves.


Unbeknownst to Ali and Abdullah, the caravan was in fact heavily guarded and Ali is taken prisoner with Abdullah only just escaping with his life. The Khan doesn't recognise Ali either but he is still sentenced to death and tied up for the public to see prior to his execution the next day. It wouldn't be much of a film if Ali was beheaded at this point so, through a series of plot machinations, he is freed by the 40 thieves, with Old Baba been mortally wounded in the process. The thieves decide to take revenge by sneaking into the marriage ceremony, killing the Khan and free Baghdad from their Mongolian occupiers. Unbeknownst to them, Prince Cassim has a spy in Amara's entourage who is relaying all the thieves' plans back to him.

As far as an adventure films go, this clearly borrows heavily from The Adventures of Robin Hood, made six years previously, with the outlaw lifestyle, the idea of romanticised redistribution of wealth and power usurped from the true monarch. Although that film is clearly the superior of the two, this is not without its merits and has rather lavish costumes and set design and, when it comes to the uprising during the marriage ceremony, a great deal of athletic and acrobatic swordplay. It is perhaps unsurprising that this sort of film (this was released in 1944) was popular in the wartime era when people wanted a bit of escapism from rationing, bombs and bad news from overseas.


If you want something unpredictable and with an ending that is always in doubt, then this is not the film for you as, like so many adventure films made around that time, it is one where you know that is going to triumph over evil and the hero will get the girl in the final reel. It is great fun and an enjoyable watch whilst not the most accomplished film ever made with decent performances throughout although very few, if any, of the cast (despite heavy make-up) actually look Persian!

The Disc

Extra Features
Nothing on the disc although there is an option to watch the film with the music and effects track so you can really appreciate the rousing score and decent sound design. I wish more discs would have this as an option as it is the only way to truly listen to the score as, when the film is playing normally, you can be distracted by the dialogue, action sequences and other aspects such as the picture quality and acting.


The Picture
Presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, the film looks extremely good for its age with vibrant and strong colours which really show off the lavish costumes and set decoration. Additionally, the contrast levels are much deeper than on the DVD so there is less of a problem when you have scenes with very low lighting. Although you can tell where the backgrounds are matte paintings and how much of the buildings are sets, it doesn't really detract from your enjoyment of the film, just as with films like Black Narcissus, The Birds or even something like The Black Shield of Falworth.

The day for night shooting is far from convincing and can lead to the picture becoming a little muddy, though this is a great deal clearer than the DVD release. Additionally, the rear projection footage is all too obvious when it comes to people riding their horses, singing happily with a fake background behind them so it is obvious when there are stunt men on horses and when they are actors.


The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono soundtrack is extremely clear with crisp dialogue and a wonderfully upbeat and stirring musical score. All of the actors enunciate their lines very well, sounding as if they come a long way from Persia, with a variety of American and English accents! I thought the Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack on the DVD was good but this, quite frankly, blows it out the water.

The optional English SDH subtitles are very good and will help anyone who is hard of hearing to follow the film without any issues in terms of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors or subtitles disappearing too quickly.

I have to admit to being very impressed with the DVD release but this one just blew me away as the sound and picture quality is so much better than I ever expected and it shows what can be done with a film in its seventh decade when treated properly and given the full HD treatment.


Final Thoughts
As adventure films go, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is fairly typical genre fare but it's enjoyable for it as you really watch it to go along for the ride, wanting Ali Baba to get revenge the Khan, be reunited with his childhood sweetheart and rid Baghdad of the Mongolian occupiers. The timing of the release is quite strange as one can almost draw parallels between the forty thieves and the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan between the Mongolians and the NATO forces in those countries. If you like these matinée films for all of their swashbuckling fun and don't mind the lack of extra features, then this release will suit you down to the ground.