Le Fils d'Ali-Baba

Thanks to the now inexplicable popularity of the very silly and irritating fluff entitled "The Prince who was a Thief" the Bronx A-rab young Tony Curtis and his appropriately hammy romantic sidekick Piper Laurie get to strike again. Laurie couldn't even pronounce "Marrakesh" correctly (Moroccish? as in Morocco) in the earlier film - so much for the authenticity of these romps. This time around we have a better plot and lots of better actors stealing the show, particularly a very young and tall William Reynolds as the loyal sidekick of our hero, and the always impressive and striking Hugh O'Brian (whose name is wrongly spelled O'Brien in the credits) as quite the hunky villain. Either of these two outshines Curtis every minute either of them is in the same scene. Susan Cabot, in a supporting role as a fierce female archer and friend of the hero puts Piper Laurie quite in the shade. The costumes and color are outstanding and if you like Reynolds and/or O'Brian or Cabot you might enjoy this.

Tony Curtis was still on the rising way to the top during this early fifties period, under contract at Universal Studios for any kind of lead roles: westerns, adventure, crime thrillers, medieval, all kinds. He was full of charm of course but his real talent was not shown yet. It was too soon. And Universal studios was a great provider of such good quality films, above the Columbia Pictures Sam Katzman's productions. This naive and predictable tale won't bring nothing new but only an agreeable pleasure for the old timers seeking nostalgia of their childhood, no matter the true facts, authentic details related to the production design or the historical facts. Universal also gave us George Sherman's VEILS OF BAGDAD and Nathan Juran's THE GOLDEN BLADE, speaking more or less the same kind of stories, One Thousand Nights like tales.

In medieval Persia, Kashma Baba is a military cadet by day and a roisterer by night. The morning after a rowdy banquet, Kiki, an escaped slave, takes shelter under Kashma's roof. Word comes that the wicked Caliph is looking for her; but Kashma, by this time in love, flees with her to his father's palace. Alas, there's more to Kiki than meets the eye. Will the evil schemers succeed? The sons of the Forty Thieves to the rescue! ..

Tony Curtis stars as Kashma Baba, the son of Ali Baba, and he's quite good in his role. His Bostonian accent isn't as strong - probably made an effort to reduce it when he sprouts the usual Orientalist version of Arabic English - and he wields a fare sword in some nifty action scenes. The plot is fast moving, unravels the story like a turban's thread, and has some good villainy in Victor Jory and Hugh O Brian. There's excellent photography, set-designs, costumes. Piper Laurie is beautiful as the love interest, but it's Susan Cabot who really steals the scene as an archer and friend of Kashma. It's a fun film.

Am a huge fan of classic film and 'Son of Ali Baba' interested me. Mainly to see a very young Piper Laurie and Tony Curtis in another early role after the superior (though that wasn't perfect either) 'The Prince Who Was a Thief', and how they would fare individually and as a partnership. Also because the story on paper seemed intriguing if silly.

Saw 'Son of Ali Baba' with the mind-set of not expecting a masterpiece and some escapist entertainment without expecting too much or everything to be of superb quality. 'Son of Ali Baba' is variable in achieving this goal. It may not blow the mind and it may not be one of Curtis's best films or contain one of his best performances. Enough is done right however and it entertains throughout its slightly too brief length.

The story sure is pure nonsense and the silliness occasionally goes overboard, complete with some over-familiarity. The costumes are somewhat unlikely and don't look as appealing, in colour and style, as the rest of the production values.

Curtis is athletic and can be likeable enough if a bit stiff, while the script can fall into overly-camp and awkwardness, the pace sometimes has lapses in momentum and the film generally lacks magic.

Lovely Piper Laurie is hammy at times but has charm factor and is equally spirited. Some of their chemistry is warm and playful. Victor Jory sinks his teeth to the hilt as the villain. The direction has an efficiency that suits the adventurous element of the story perfectly.

It is very difficult to dislike the story completely. For all its ridiculousness and predictability, it can go at a breezy pace, with a clear idea at what it was trying to be and appeal to without trying to do more. The characters are archetypes but reasonably likeable ones. The action-oriented parts, especially towards the end, excite and the music is rousing. 'Son of Ali Baba', costumes aside, is shot with vibrant colour and the setting exotic-looking if perhaps not evocative.

In conclusion, not bad but not much special even when taking it for what it is. Likeable enough cast and fun and colourful in spots, but can be too much on the camp side and lacks magic. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Ali Baba films in its day were always enjoyable, with a good adventure built in. The son of Ali Baba is not in the same mould, even with the lead played by Tony Curtis. Nevertheless it's still a sword buckling event and nice to view in 2020, thinking of Those were the Days . . .