La spada di Alì Babà

It's an hilarious conceit. You don't think anyone would really try it these days, but what goes around, does eventually come around, so you just never know.

In 1965 some bright spark at Universal pictures decided a remake of their 1944 hit Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves was in order. However to maximise the profits, the studio would cast a bunch of unknowns and then use a whole heap of footage from the earlier film anyway. There are some weird things happen in Hollywood these days, but I don't think anyone would try this stunt any more. So much of the first act and then a lot of the crowd scenes and battles are from 1944 and the character scenes from when the adult Ali Baba appears are from 1965. I have to admit that you don't always get the opportunity to compare 2 similar (parts of) films ... side by side like we see here.

It all ends up being a regulation "B" feature, where it likely played out as the support movie at mid 60's matinees. Those who appreciate their movie trivia, will no doubt love seeing The Love Boat's Gavin McLeod pop up amazingly, as the chief villain. And Mission Impossible's Greg Morris has quite a large supporting role as the princess's slave, come bodyguard, who hits all the right notes with Ali Baba.

Those like me, who are tempted to watch for curiosity value, will truthfully be able to exclaim afterwards that, "They don't make 'em like this anymore.