Customer Reviews

Son of Ali Baba [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To the first reviewer on this site who thought Son of Ali Baba was the movie where Piper Laurie wiggled through the bars: The movie you are thinking of was called "The Prince Who Was a Thief" and it is a far better movie than this one. Unfortunately, it is a WB movie and still has not been released on DVD or even on VHS (legally) that I know of. If you ever can get a copy of it, this is the movie you were thinking of. It is one of my favorites.

In a convoluted plot to discredit Ali Baba (Morris Ankrum) and get his fabled treasure, the Caliph (Victor Jory) forces a girl (Piper Laurie) to enter the house of Ali Baba's son (Tony Curtis) under false pretenses and a plot that looks like she was kidnapped but the Caliph didn't count on Laurie falling in lover with Curtis. This enjoyable piece of Arabian Nights hokum, directed by Kurt Neumann (THE FLY), is colorful and fun and doesn't take itself too seriously. Curtis handles a sword nicely and Laurie is gorgeous in Technicolor and at a brief running time of 75 minutes, it's just enough swashbuckling, jumping parapets, dancing girls and romance without wearing out its welcome. This is the film where the urban legend says Curtis spoke the immortal words, "Yonder lies the castle of my fadda" but in actuality, his diction is perfect and he says father not "fadda". The large cast includes Hugh O'Brian, William Reynolds, Harry Guardino, Susan Cabot, Gerald Mohr, Mara Corday, Katherine Warren and Ann Robinson.

The Bounty Classics DVD imported from Australia is a handsome Technicolor transfer in the appropriate 1.33 aspect ratio. Some of the longshots are a bit soft but most of the film is sharp and crisp.

I love this old movie. Tony Curtis is young and good looking and it is movie of the old era. great costumes and the sword fights are great to watch.

Was not as good as I remembered as a kid. I was told this was the movie where Piper Laurie wiggled thru the bars. But if it was, it was cut out of this print.

Far out Tony Curtis is a babe. I'm so obssessed with him that I wish I was alive at the time of this movie