Ali Baba Goes to Town

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Movie
Original title Ali Baba Goes to Town
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1937
length 96 minutes
Rod
Director David Butler
script Harry Virtue ,
Jack Yellen
music Louis Silvers
camera Ernest Palmer
cut Irene Morra
occupation

Ali Baba Goes to Town is an American adventure comedy with musical elements from 1937 . The 20th Century Fox production was based on a story by Gene Towne, C. Graham Baker and Gene Fowler.

action

Aloysius "Al" Babson, an autograph hunter on the way to Hollywood, travels through a desert area by train as a tramp and accidentally falls out of the car. When he sees a horde of horsemen rushing towards him, he runs off. He reaches an Arabic-looking village, where the riders catch up with him and pounce on him.

Al comes to in the first aid room at 20th Century Fox . He learns that he got lost in a movie scene and that his unexpected appearance ruined a take for the desert epic "Ali Baba". An employee of the studio offers him money if he signs a declaration exempting the studio from any possible claims. The nurse Dinah tries to convince Al not to sign. But when Al was given the opportunity to stay on set as an extra and ask for autographs, he agreed. Dinah gives Al a pack of painkillers. He is supposed to take two of them at 12 noon.

Al plays one of the 40 robbers who are hidden in large barrels to kill the Sultan Abdullah. The client is Prince Musah, who wants to kidnap Princess Miriam, the Sultan's daughter. Al volunteers to play the thief who remains loyal to the Sultan. One look at the clock tells Al that it is two o'clock. Al makes the mistake of getting the numbers mixed up and now takes 12 of the pills that make him fall into a deep sleep.

In his dream, Al finds himself in Baghdad in the year 937. Here he is to be executed. When he tells his captors that his name is Al Babson, he is hailed as Ali Baba's son (originally: Ali Baba's son). He is now supposed to dine with the sultan and is brought to the palace. On the way, Al notices many poor people who are obviously hungry. He convinces the Sultan to invite these people to dinner too, in order to prevent an impending rebellion. Before long, Al will be made prime minister. In his office, Al starts a number of projects based on the New Deal program of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt . He wants to disband the army, which anger Prince Musah. He is now planning, with the help of the Sultana, one of the Sultan's 365 wives, to usurp the throne, behead Al and make Princess Miriam, who has always warded off his advances, his wife.

Meanwhile, Al Deenah, the daughter of the carpet weaver and magician Omar, met and fell in love with her, while Miriam fell in love with Yusuf, the spokesman for the farmers' association. Since a wedding between a princess and a man from the people is not allowed, Al suggests that Abdullah abdicates as sultan and allows himself to be elected president. Al is doing everything possible to present Abdullah as the right president in the eyes of his people. But the election does not end with a victory for Abdullah. Al is elected president, which makes Abdullah think of a fraud. As a punishment he wants to let Al boil in boiling oil. Disguised as a woman, Al escapes the palace and stumbles into Prince Musah's camp, where he has gathered his rebellious men. Musah is fascinated by the unknown veiled woman and admires her dance style. Al can fend off Musah and take refuge in Deenah's house. Here Omar is trying to find the right magical command to make a cupboard rise into the air. Al suggests the word "inflation," and the cabinet promptly rises.

Al has climbed into the closet and flies over Prince Musah, who is arriving with his men. Al chases the men apart with a burning rope. Musah ignores the flames and climbs up the rope. Al and Musah fight each other on the cupboard, which is also starting to burn. Al can knock Musah down, but falls into the depths.

Al wakes up from his dream and is fired by the director. Later he and Dinah go to the cinema where the film premieres. Actor Tony Martin welcomes the guests of honor, including Eddie Cantor, who feels harassed by the many autograph hunters. When Cantor waves in the direction of the enthusiastic Dinah, Al rolls his eyes angrily and asks: "What does he have that I don't have?"

background

The film premiered in Hollywood on October 15, 1937.

Guests of honor at the premiere party shown in the film, which actually showed the premiere of another Fox production ( recruit Willie Winkie ), included Dolores del Río , Douglas Fairbanks sr. , Jack Haley , Sonja Henie , Victor McLaglen , Tyrone Power , Cesar Romero , Ann Sothern and Shirley Temple with their parents. Lee J. Cobb and Warren Hymer played minor supporting roles in the film . Raymond Scott had a guest appearance with his quintet.

According to the studio, there was a fatal accident during the shooting. Workers Philo Goodfriend and Harry Harsha were crushed by the 700 kg cabinet when it fell over during a test shot. Two other men, JD Bowman and Nick DeGenner, were injured in the accident.

Eddie Cantor, musical star of the 1920s and 1930s, was under contract with Samuel Goldwyn . Dissatisfaction with his role led Cantor to terminate the contract and move to 20th Century Fox . His contract with Fox stipulated that he would shoot three films for the studio. Fox should pay him a million dollars for that. However, Ali Baba Goes to Town remained the only film Cantor made for Fox.

Eddie Cantor also suffered injuries while shooting the magic cabinet. Ligament stretching, skin abrasions and bruises on the knees were the result of Cantor completing the scenes on the cupboard without a double. The Association of Stuntmen then made him an honorary member because of his achievements.

criticism

Dennis Schwartz describes the film as a lively fantasy musical comedy in his review. David Butler used the then successful formula of mocking Arabs.

Awards

Sammy Lee received an Oscar nomination in 1938 in the former Best Dance Director category for the choreography of the number Swing Is Here to Stay .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937) - Notes. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved February 29, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Margarita Landazuri: Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937) - Articles. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved February 29, 2020 .
  3. ^ Dennis Schwartz: Ali Baba Goes to Town. In: Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews. July 15, 2011, accessed February 29, 2020 .