Le meraviglie di Aladino

Pairing Henry levin (who made the best "journey to the center of the earth " that had ever been ) and Mario Bava (whose best fantasy and horror movies such as "i tre volti della paura" have remained memorable ) promised great things ;but these promises remained on hold.

It cannot hold a candle to "the thief of Baghdad " (1940) from which it borrowed the automaton (a murderous sexy girl) ;firts of all,Donald O' Connor is at least twice Alladin's age ;a cosmopolitan cast does not help :To support the American actor , Italians (De Sica as the genius in the bottle) ,and FRench comedians (Noelle Adam ,Michèle Mercier ,future Angélique )

Magis is absent all along the way ,but the film is not devoid of sadism : the soldier handed to the blood-thirsty automaton,people ending for lunch to the lions ;and what have the Amazons, who come from Greek mythology, got to do in "one and a thousand nights"?Why not Hercules or the mummy when they are at it?

The screenplay is muddled and desultory .

The wise adults would pass this up and watch the 1940 work or Pasolini's 1974 version,the latter not suitable for the children audience.

I first saw this in the early 90s. Revisited it recently. This film hasn't aged well. It has some good comedy, decent effects, hell lottuva babes n a funny faced Sultan (Aldo Fabrizi). It even has Terence Hill in a tiny role n the intimidating wrestler Milton Reid (Dr. No and The Spy Who Loved Me).

Years ago when the first Ninja Turtles movie made its way to VHS, my five-year-old neighbor girl (who liked coming by to play with my toddler), knocked on my door, pressed her copy of the movie into my hands and said, "You've *got* to watch this. It's the *best* movie ever made." When I first saw "The Wonders of Aladdin," I thought it was the best movie ever made. I was eight. My favorite thing in the world at that time was listening to the Broadway cast album of "Kismet" (the movie of which I didn't see for many years) and reading 1001 nights tales in picture books. When I saw "The Wonders of Aladdin" on television with my family, I remember being absolutely enthralled. (I remember my mother being surprised that Vittorio de Sica was in it.) I loved every plot twist. The genie appearing in a matte shot, smaller and smaller with each appearance, made perfect sense to me. I rooted for Donald O'Connor. I was thrilled when he won the princess (who I'd thought was Annette Funicello).

When I saw it again, about age 12, I was appalled. What a cheesy picture, I thought. The wink-wink-nudge-nudge joke of O'Connor (but not the audience) accidentally seeing the princess (not Funicello after all) nude seemed embarrassing. The "special effects" were just cheap.

When I caught the movie again at college age--after several years of reading about films and seeing films of all eras--I was ready to forgive "The Wonders of Aladdin" its failings and enjoy it again.

If you like 1001 nights type stories and you appreciate films of different eras, "The Wonders of Aladdin" is an enjoyable B-movie fantasy.

adventures, Arabian Nights, game with a fairy tale, Vittoro de Sica as charming genie and childish joy . nothing new, nothing special. but a nice work. for the spirit of a time. for nostalgic memories. for a young Terence Hill as prince. for the love story. for bad guys. all at perfect place. like a summer afternoon in park. games, laughter, ironies, pleasure as only rule. a comedy like an old picture. the dust of time, the figures of few people, the air of a beautiful past, the image of childhood. so, it is not a bad or good film. it is. like a sign of a form of art. or passing years. like a circle of dust and voices. like need of a form, not very complicated, to escape from present. imagination of director is part of your vision about lost heroes and strange adventures. so, it is not a great error to see it.

This has to be one of the finest comedies to feature Donald O'Connor that didn't feature him dancing or with a talking mule. When you look at it, he really isn't the smooth teen idol type that was portrayed in the classic animated feature that came out several years later, O'Connor played Aladdin more like an ordinary guy who gets involved in very unusual situations. Too bad this is rarely shown on television anymore, it is definitely a treat.