La revanche d'Ali Baba

1952's "Thief of Damascus" was a Columbia potboiler from producer Sam Katzman, scripted tongue in cheek with quotable lines aplenty. Evil conqueror Khalid (John Sutton) demands the arrest of his best general, Abu Amdar (Paul Henreid), simply for negotiating a treaty of surrender from the Sultan of Damascus, without his consent. With sword fights carefully sped up for the benefit of Henreid's stuntman, we get almost every character associated with the Arabian Nights- Robert Clary as Aladdin (minus lamp), Philip Van Zandt as Ali Baba, Jeff Donnell as the fetching Sheherazade, and Lon Chaney as Sinbad. Add Elena Verdugo as Neela and Helen Gilbert as Princess Zafir, all the girls provide quite a visual treat in color, but in all fairness, Howard Hughes didn't scrimp on the pulchritude when he cast so many beautiful wannabe starlets in his own "Son of Sinbad," casting Vincent Price as Omar Khayyam! (he later confided that it was indeed a very happy set). Speaking of Sinbad, 45 year old Lon Chaney looks both strong and healthy, hugely enjoying his comic sparring with Robert Clary, later on HOGAN'S HEROES, and it's nice to see him again alongside luscious Elena Verdugo, his old co-star from "House of Frankenstein" and "The Frozen Ghost" (her hair almost as long as Patricia Morison's). 'Miss Jeff Donnell,' as she was billed opposite Boris Karloff in her second film, 1942's "The Boogie Man Will Get You," was a longtime mainstay at Columbia, appearing in "The Power of the Whistler," "The Phantom Thief" (Boston Blackie), and "The Unknown" (I LOVE A MYSTERY); still only 29, she's as sexy a Sheherazade as any man could ask for. Too bad Khalid failed to ask.

Before Roger Corman there were the B movie departments. At Warner Brothers they had Bryan Foy, at Paramount they had the Dollar Bills and at Columbia, which was a B movie Studio for 90% of their productions anyway, they had Sam Katzman.

This means, for this flick, occasional A movie intellectual support Paul Henreid, looking as depressed as he did in NOW VOYAGER or CASABLANCA, as an action hero, horror lead Lon Chaney Jr. in support for marquee value.... and the rest of the movie, for some reason, strikes me as having been cast out of a Brooklyn burlesque house: girls from the stage, extras from the audience. Director Will Jason came out of short subjects and directs the whole thing with not too serious an air. The set design looks like the designer went into the prop storehouse, had everyone grab everything they could carry and heaped it all together.

The net effect is ridiculous rather than funny, depressing rather than dramatic. Unless you want to see the hordes of the Middle East riding over landscape like American cowboys -- I've no idea who was directing the second unit, but it's clearly cowboys in those pointed helmets, wielding scimitars -- give this one a miss.

Everything is splendid in this sumptuous oriental adventure, built on all kinds of loose ends of Arabian nights with the action located in Persia in the 7th century. Paul Henreid is the hero, the general who gets defeated and dishonoured but who works his way back in glory, surrounded by three wonderful oriental ladies. There is a great musical score by John Leipold which underlines the extravagant phantasmagoria character, but the script is the best of all, brilliantly conceived with exquisite dialog all the way spiced with wonderful strokes of good and witty humour, and I don't think I have ever seen Paul Henreid this good. Lon Chaney Jr plays the joker Sinbad with Aladdin for a helpmate, it's all like a paraphrase of Michael Powell's "The Thief of Bagdad" two years earlier, and everything here reminds you of Michael Powell and his magic. It's the same vein, not equally sophisticated, but well enough to stand up for a good second. This film is a joy all through, and you will gladly return to it one day.

If only for the cave with the sliding door, I remember this mildly entertaining fantasy adventure from my childhood. It all follows the usual path of a hero who falls in love with the princess to the chagrin of his boss who also has designs on her! In this case it's the princess "Zafir" (Helen Gilbert) who is the object of everyone's desir; "Amdar" (Paul Henreid) the man she loves and "Khalid" (John Sutton) the malevolent usurper who would have her father's kingdom and his daughter. Fortunately for them, and us, she has the assistance of the wily "Sheherazade" (Jeff Donnell) and there's the occupier of the magic cave, too. He is, of course, "Ali Baba" (Philip Van Zandt) and he might just be persuaded to help out. Oh, right, and there's also "Sinbad" (Lon Chaney Jr.) just to keep the "Arabian Nights" theme fully exploited throughout. With a public execution looming, it is going to fall to the heroic men to save the sultan and his daughter from the scimitar, but will they manage to overcome the city walls and the overwhelming number of royal guards in time? Nothing remotely original, no, but I did quite enjoy this theatrically delivered costume romp, especially the lively effort from Donnell who clearly thinks she's more than a match for any man (character or actor). There's plenty of action to stop the romance getting too cheesy and though Henreid is as wooden as a cedar tree, his talents mix well with the rest of the mediocrity on offer here to present us with a perfectly watchable adventure film.

This very conventional oriental tale takes many characters from "the thousand and one nights " who ,with the exception of Ali Baba whose cave ,should we believe him,is used for the last time ,are not given a single chance to shine (to show their skills): Aladdin talks about his lamp,but this magical thing is no help for the oppressed; Simbad is not a sailor and has no monster to fight against;had Sheherazade been so devoid of imagination,she would not have hold her master's attention for thousand and one nights . Neela even hints at Delilah ,a biblical character ,who does not appear ,all the same.

This story is too derivative ,and there are many directors who did more exciting movies with "the thousand and one nights" inexhaustible material.