Product Details

• Actors: Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Turhan Bey, Andy Devine, Kurt Katch
• Directors: Arthur Lubin
• Writers: Edmund L. Hartmann
• Producers: Jack J. Gross, Paul Malvern
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302884705
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,678 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES (1944), April 25, 2000

By 

Vivian Perez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ali Baba & The 40 Thieves [VHS] (VHS Tape)

(Action/Adventure, 1 hr 27 min, Technicolor) Universal - U.S.A.

DIRECTOR: Arthur Lubin

CAST: Scotty Beckett, Turhan Bey, Andy Devine, Jon Hall, Frank Puglia, Kurt Katch, Maria Montez (As: Amara)

COMMENTS: This Arabian Nights fantasy follows the exploits of the Caliph of Baghdad's son, who runs off into the desert after his father is killed by raiding Mongols.

There he encounters the legendary 40 thieves and watches in amazement as their command, "Open Sesame," magically parts a solid rock wall, revealing a cavernous hiding place filled with treasures.

He is adopted by the thieves, dubbed "Ali Baba," and grows up to be their leader. As an adult, Ali sets out to avenge his father's death and to free his land from the reigning Mongols.

The film is set in the ancient Middle East. Maria Montez stars as Amara, a Baghdad beauty, who is one of the main reasons of the fight between the Mongol Khan Hulagu and Ali Baba.

In this time, Maria demonstrated that she will never accept to do scenes or scene parts against her will. For instance, the director Arthur Lubin tried to convince her of appearing naked inside of a pool, the problem was solved when Lubin accepted to put her in a bubble bath.

Before beginning working in the most popular and commercial movie of its time, Maria said to the media: "According to my horoscope, the name I will have in this movie will not augur me success."

The producers thought Montez wanted to change the name they assigned her and they allowed her to do so.

The actress Miriam Colón, from Puerto Rico, appeared in this film, but she was not credited in the cast.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Nice, Until the Real Thing Comes Along..., July 20, 2007

By 

Thomas Bumbera (Maplewood, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Import, All Regions) (DVD)

Hopefully Universal will do an official, remastered release of this title soon (let's hope "Arabian Nights" sells!). Until then, this is a very nice transfer of an un-restored but very clean Technicolor print. Missing only the open and closing titles (and Sabu, who is listed on the cover art and does NOT appear in the film!), this is a well-crafted piece of escapist adventure, with Maria Montez in full Technicolor bloom (and giving what is for her an above-average performance). Snappy direction and an able supporting cast made this a delightful purchase. Now, Universal, how about "Cobra Woman"...

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Old Classic from the Arabian Nights tales!, December 22, 2006

By 

Bill E. "The Movie Critic" (California, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Import, All Regions) (DVD)

I had a VHS copy of this movie I had taped off the TV a long time ago. I was happy to find this South Korean import--the only DVD of this movie that is possible to obtain. Overall the clarity and quality of tranfer is good. Definately a far better improvement over any VHS version.

The movie itself is full of action and very entertaining, espesially for a 1944 movie. The colors are nice. I noticed that outdoor photography at night tend to be a little dark- probably from the movie itself and the usage of dark filter while shooting in daylight to stimulate nighttime. Other than that, indoor scenes are beautiful and bright as well as outdoor daylight scenes.

Overall, It is not a perfect edition of the movie, but it is the only DVD version of it that I know that is obtainable for a higher price--that is until Universal Studio decide to do a special restoration and release it on DVD sometime in the future?

I rated the movie itself 5 stars, the transfer 3 for missing opening and ending credits.