Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

1954 [FRENCH]

Action / Comedy / Fantasy / Romance

12
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 47% · 2 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 47% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.0/10 10 1567 1.6K

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Plot summary

A lord’s servant, Ali Baba, is sent to retrieve a slave for his master, but ends up on an adventure filled with gold, mischief, love, and forty famous thieves instead.

Director

Jacques Becker Photo
Jacques Becker

Top cast

Édouard Delmont Photo
Édouard Delmont as Harun, Père de Morgiane
Samia Gamal Photo
Samia Gamal as Morgiane
José Casa Photo
José Casa as Mendiant
Gaston Orbal Photo
Gaston Orbal as Mufti
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
856.14 MB
968*720
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles fr  
24 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 2
1.55 GB
1440*1072
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles fr  
24 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by dbdumonteil

The magic is away

Considered in France Jacques Becker's worst film,the only one that has nothing to recommend it.The story is not very well told ,which is a shame for a very famous Arabian story.Walt Disney did a whole lot better with his Aladdin.Anyway,the man who could achieve such a task in France had not yet made any movie at the time:of course it was Jacques Demy who worked wonders with "Peau d'Ane" and "the pied piper".It was to be Becker's only color movie (he was to experiment wide screen in "Le Trou" with stunning results)and it's a pity that it was not ,say,"Casque D'or". Fernandel was too old to be a credible Ali.And the woman's lib will moan and groan when they see him on his donkey,followed by his wife who runs behind him.
Reviewed by mattijsvandenbosch 8 / 10

Very enjoyable and well made!

I really enjoyed (re)watching this movie. I must have seen it as a child in the late sixties while growing up in Morocco but didn't remember it well. "Deja vu" flashes came back while watching it now and then and also made me remember the context: some gags to pay attention to where discussed beforehand at school by schoolmates. The Fernandel movies where hugely popular at that time, specially amongst the then still very present French speaking population . Of course the whole Ali Baba tale is a fantasy. So lets judge it that way. The main thing I like about this movie is that it was filmed in Morocco, the perfect backdrop and scenery to merge with the Ali Baba story. But this movie is also not about the real Morocco, it is a fantasy...And the use of local scenery and extra's is VERY WELL done. Other then another Fernandel movie I also saw at the time set in the medieaval age (Le bon roi Dagobert) where anachronistic gags where built in: Fernandel, the medieval king asking : 'What is the time?", looking at his watch...The ending of Ali Baba with a least a thousand (!) extras is impressive . It is strange that the perfect production and its costs where dealt with with more attention to then the quite simple plot. But in this lies the charm of this movie. This is actually a feel good movie about a good man who does good deeds with the treasure he finds while he stumbles on huge richness in the 40 robbers cave. It IS also a comedy an that is Fernandel's strong point. After having watched this movie I had a big smile on my face for hours...
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