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.

OldFilmLover Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is the best of the Montez-Hall movies, ahead of Arabian Nights, which perhaps deserves an 8, Cobra Woman, which deserves a 7, and White Savage, which deserves only slightly over a 6. My 9 rating is perhaps a bit high -- maybe 8.4-8.6 would be more accurate -- but I give it a 9 in protest against the ridiculously low IMDb average.What sets this above all the others is the script; both plot and dialogue are superior. The performances are also livelier, the acting better (both of the leads, Hall and Montez, and of the supporting cast), and the feeling of forward movement in the story much greater.In fact, I rank this film third, all-time, among classic adventure films in which only normal human beings with normal human powers are involved (no genies, dragons, gods, animated skeletons, Jedi knights, etc.), and which are not at least part tongue-in-cheek (like the Indiana Jones films). Only The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Mark of Zorro are better in this category. (Though The Black Swan, The Most Dangerous Game and a few others come close.)Kurt Katch turns in a great performance as the evil Hulagu Khan. To the 7-to-13-year-olds who crowded the Saturday matinée in 1944, Katch's Khan would be the classic portrayal of the tyrant. Of course, to adult eyes, Katch's performance is over-acted, but films in this genre have to be judged with their intended audience in mind.Special mention should go to Turhan Bey, and to Frank Puglia as Montez's sycophantic father. The only performance which could be thought a flaw in the film is that of Andy Devine, as the fat "comedy relief" thief. The "cowboy humour" he brings from his other roles seems a bit out of place in a basically high-toned, medieval-flavoured tale about the Muslim and Mongol Middle East. I could have done without him. Still, he was doing what the part called for, so really any blame should be assigned to the writer and director rather than Devine himself. And again, we have to consider the primary audience for the film (though adults can enjoy it, too) was the kids -- and that sort of comedy relief would be what many 40s kids liked.The music, camera work, and Technicolor are all first-rate. The film is polished. When 1940s Universal did one of its rare, big-budget "A"-list movies, it could do it very well.Love, courage, nobility; a despicable Oriental tyrant and a people groaning under his heel; the transformation of thieves into patriots; action, glamour, spectacle, and a rousing climax -- this film is a perfect piece of sheer entertainment. I watched this movie with my kids over and over again when they were young. They loved it. It's a great family movie if you have pre-teen kids who have not yet been jaded by the modern emphasis on loudness and special effects, and can still accept the older styles of acting and storytelling because they have the openness of childhood. If you start them out on Indiana Jones and Star Wars, it may be impossible for them to go back later and really enjoy these older-style adventure movies. Give them this experience while they can still enjoy it.

howardeisman I saw a high quality, restored color DVD the other day, and now I know how my career as an artist began. I saw this when I was almost 8 years old when it first came out in original technicolor. The scenes where young Ali Baba finds the thieves' ecave, opens it (Open oh sesame,), and then steps into thatwonderously colored cave of great treasures hooked me for life intodepicting explosions of whirling colors I might have seen a black and white version of this on TV in the inmterum, but this new DVD almost captures the gaudy vividness of the original. As for the rest of the film, well, just okay.You can sit back and enjoy it despite a juvenile plot, risible miscasting, and very obvious sets. But who cares! It is an advantage that Maria Montez has such a thick Dominican accent. Her struggle to get her lines out in a comprehensible manner gives her face some actual expression. John Hall looked silly with his thin mustache; he looked not only more authentic but much better when in disguise with a full beard. Andy Devine was okay for the kids.. Fortunio Bonavura did not have a decent line. But who cares.Once the forty thieves got to galloping and kicking, up sand riding in the desert, it becomes pure fun-even if they were wearing baby blue robes and shocking pink headdresses.

billfishfanatic I have a fairly sophisticated taste in cinema classics so I am a bit ashamed to rate this as one of my Favorite films of all time. I must cite first and foremost the sublime and under-rated masterpiece of a score by Edward Ward WHICH DESERVES A CD FOR SURE!!-Kurt Katch as Hulagu Khan is one of the screens most odious villains and the very fast pace all add to it's delight.....FOR ME-Weird, but not once in the entire film does handsome Jon Hall as Ali ever actually kiss Lady Amara, the exotic Maria Montez! Another bonus is the the vision of loveliness that is GORGEOUS Ramsay Ames as the incredibly HOT, sexy and traitorous lady in waiting Nalu who betrays her mistress-I just have to own up that GULP....I love this flick! PS-What a tragedy that Bagdad today is not the happy one that we find at this film's conclusion. SO SAD.