Chu-Chin-Chow (1934)

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Movie
German title Chu-Chin-Chow
Original title Chu-Chin-Chow
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1934
length 102 minutes
Rod
Director Walter Forde
script Sidney Gilliat , Edward Knoblock , L. du Garde Peach , based on the stage musical of the same name by Oscar Asche
production Gainsborough Pictures ; Gaumont British Picture Corporation Ltd.
music Sidney Gilliat , Frederick Norton
camera Mutz Greenbaum
cut Derek N. Twist
occupation

Chu-Chin-Chow is a British film (film musical) directed by Walter Forde from 1934.

action

Baghdad in fairytale time. The wealthy merchant Kassim Baba is preparing a banquet for the famous Chinese merchant Chu-Chin-Chow, who is about to arrive in Baghdad with his caravan. He sends his brother Ali Baba into the forest to get firewood. Ali is poor - reason enough that his son Nur-al-din cannot marry Kassim's lovely slave, Marjanah.

Another slave in the Baba household is Zahrat, the spy and lover of the notorious robber chief Abu Hasan. When Zahrat learns of the rich Chinese man's expected arrival, she secretly sends Abu a message. Abu sets off with his forty robbers, ambushes the caravan, murders Chu-Chin-Chow and uses the opportunity to slip into his identity.

Meanwhile, Ali accidentally discovers the cave in the forest where the robbers live and hoard their treasures. He fills his pockets and returns to Baghdad a rich man. When he appears in rich clothing at the banquet that Kassim gives in honor of the fake Chu-Chin-Chow, the greedy Kassim is more than curious to find out the source of his brother's sudden wealth. When he makes Ali drunk and promises him his wife, whom his brother has kept an eye on, he finally learns the secret.

Marjanah overhears Zahrat and the fake Chu-Chin-Chow in a secret conversation and discovers the real identity of the guest, but is accidentally locked in her hiding place and therefore cannot communicate with anyone. Since Kassim's wife is no longer satisfied with her slave, Zahrat is offered at the slave market the next day. She had previously agreed with Abu Hasan that he should acquire her and set her free. During the auction, Marjanah appears, who has since been able to free herself, and publicly accuses the fake Chu-Chin-Chow. The robbers start a brawl and prevent Abu's arrest. Abu now believes, however, that behind his unmasking is Zahrat, who only ordered him to the slave market to set a trap for him. Before he escapes, he kidnaps Zahrat.

In the meantime, Kassim has located the robbers' den and started to fill his pockets with treasure. When the robbers discover him, they kill him with their sabers. Ali Baba and his son find the murdered man and bring him back to Baghdad. So that nobody learns that Kassim has died a violent death, Marjanah is assigned to lead a blindfolded cobbler into the house, who sews the body back together. Abu Hasan tracked down this maneuver because Ali and Nur-al-din accidentally left a shoe in the cave, the owner of which Abu happened to try to track down with the help of the same cobbler who worked for Ali. When Abu sees jewelry on Kassim's widow, who is now Ali's bride, which Ali stole from his cave, he no longer has any doubts about the identity of his opponent.

The opportunity to rob Ali Baba arises when Abu Hasan learns of another banquet in the Baba house. He masks himself and hides his robbers in forty empty barrels, which he has donated as an anonymous gift for the host - allegedly the barrels contain olive oil - to the festival. Abu does not know that Zahrat is also hidden in one of the barrels, which he kept imprisoned in the cave as a punishment for her alleged betrayal. Zahrat warns Nur-al-din of the planned attack, whereupon he has the barrels with the robbers roll into a well and pour boiling oil over them. Meanwhile, Zahrat dances for Ali Baba's guests and kills the masked Abu Hasan, whom she still loves, with a dagger. The Caliph of Baghdad, who has been invited as a guest of honor, expresses the release of Marjanah, who can finally become Nur-al-din's wife, as thanks for the good entertainment.

Production and theatrical release

The film is based on the musical of the same name by Robert Asche , which in turn is based on the story of Ali Baba , an episode from the “A Thousand and One Nights ” collection . The stage version premiered in London in 1916 and was a spectacular success. With 2,235 performances, “Chu-Chin-Chow” was the longest running British stage show of the time. In 1923, the British company Graham-Wilcox produced the first film version with Herbert Wilcox as director, in which Judd Green , Herbert Langley and Betty Blythe appeared as the leading actors. In some cinemas that had special technical equipment, this film was even shown in an early sound film process.

Walter Forde shot his version from 1934 with an unusually large budget for the economically difficult time using extremely elaborate and detailed decorations (by Ernő Metzner ) and costumes ( Cathleen Mann ). In addition to the songs, the film owed its success primarily to visual show values. The big, decorative scenes of the film include the two banquets in the Baba house, which culminate in opulent revue numbers, but also the pictures of the slave market and the subsequent celebration of the robbers who kidnapped a few slaves at the market.

The cast of Ali Baba with George Robey, who gave a Buffo character with his corpulence and his 61 years of age, was unusual . In Hollywood , the role would have been cast with a lover actor during this time. For the actor Fritz Kortner , who emigrated from Austria because of National Socialism , the role of the robber Abu Hasan was the first appearance in a British film. Five more were to follow before he went on to the United States in 1937 . The Chinese-born Anna May Wong had previously appeared in British films several times because she was less committed to stereotypical Asian characters in Europe than in her native USA. Nevertheless, in "Chu-Chin-Chow" she gives a typical Dragon Lady who, with an angry contorted face, throws a knife at her lover and strangles a robber from behind with a chain. What was unusual about the role of Zahrat, however, was that this character reached the end of the plot alive despite her repeated betrayal .

The premiere of "Chu-Chin-Chow" took place in May 1934 in London ; in the USA the film was first shown on September 21, 1934. In the USA, Gaumont British Distributors took over together with Gaumont British Pictures Corp. of America the rental.

In the USA the film was re-released in 1953 by Lippert Pictures Inc. under the title "Ali Baba Nights".

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