Ali Baba Goes to Town
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Ali Baba Goes to Town
Plot
Autograph hound Al Babson (Eddie Cantor) accidentally disrupts the filming of a movie about Ali Baba, and is injured in the process. The filmmakers try to buy him off, but nurse Dinah (Virginia Field) suggests he be hired as an extra. He takes an overdose of painkillers, and his Arabian Nights dreams combine with the plot of the movie. His name leads the populace to think he's the son of Ali Baba, and he's taken to the palace of Sultan Abdullah (Roland Young), who's so impressed by Al that he makes him prime minister. Princess Miriam (June Lang) is in love with Yusuf (Tony Martin), the leader of the peasants, while Al has fallen for Deenah (also Virginia Field), whose father Omar (Maurice Cass) is trying to make a carpet fly. Meanwhile, the evil Prince Musah (Douglas Dumbrille) is conspiring with Sultana (Louise Hovick), one of Abdullah's many wives, to capture the princess, take over Bagdad, and kill Abdullah and Al as well. Miriam and Yusuf are unhappy because royalty and commoners cannot marry, so Al comes up with a plan to help his friends, but the plan spectacularly backfires, and Abdullah orders him to be boiled in oil. ~ Bill Warren, RoviCast
- Eddie Cantor - Ali Bobo
- Tony Martin - Yusuf
- Roland Young - Sultan
- June Lang - Princess Miriam
- Louise Hovick - Sultana
Credit
Bernard Herzbrun - Art Director, Sammy Lee - Choreography, Gwen Wakeling - Costume Designer, Sid Fields - First Assistant Director, David Butler - Director, Irene Morra - Editor, Louis Silvers - Composer (Music Score), Ernest Palmer - Cinematographer, Darryl F. Zanuck - Producer, Lawrence Schwab - Producer, Thomas K. Little - Set Designer, Graham Baker - Screen Story, Gene Fowler - Screen Story, Gene Towne - Screen Story, Harry Tugend - Screenwriter, Jack Yellen - Screenwriter| Ali Baba Bunny (1957 Film), Ali Baba (1954 Film) | |
| Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1991 Film), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1943 Film) |
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Ali Baba Goes to Town
| Ali Baba Goes to Town | |
|---|---|
 Film poster |
|
| Directed by | David Butler |
| Produced by | Darryl F. Zanuck |
| Written by | C. Graham Baker Gene Fowler Gene Towne Harry Tugend Jack Yellen |
| Starring | Eddie Cantor Tony Martin Roland Young |
| Music by | Robert Russell Bennett |
| Cinematography | Ernest Palmer |
| Editing by | Irene Morra |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century-Fox |
| Release date(s) | 29 October 1937 |
| Running time | 80 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Ali Baba Goes to Town is a 1937 movie starring Eddie Cantor, Tony Martin, and Roland Young. Cantor plays a hobo named Aloysius "Al" Babson, who walks into the camp of a movie company that is making the Arabian Nights. He falls asleep and dreams he is in Baghdad as an advisor to the Sultan (Young). He organizes work programs, taxes the rich, and abolishes the army, in a spoof of Roosevelt's New Deal.
The cast also includes Gypsy Rose Lee, using the stage name of Louise Hovick, as the Sultana. The Raymond Scott Quintette also appears, performing "Twilight In Turkey."
A clip from Ali Baba Goes to Town is shown in the movie The Day of the Locust (1975), in which Karen Black plays an aspiring actress in 1930s Hollywood. A brief shot of Black is edited into the Ali Baba footage to create the impression that her character played a bit role in that film.
Cast
- Eddie Cantor ... Ali Baba/Aloysius 'Al' Babson
- Tony Martin ... Yusuf/Announcer at Premiere
- Roland Young ... Sultan
- June Lang ... Princess Miriam
- Gypsy Rose Lee ... Sultana (as Louise Hovick)
- Raymond Scott ... Orchestra Leader (as Raymond Scott and His Quintet)
- John Carradine ... Ishak/Broderick
- Virginia Field ... Dinah
- Alan Dinehart ... Boland
- Douglass Dumbrille ... Prince Musah
- Maurice Cass ... Omar, The Rug Maker
- Warren Hymer ... Tramp
- Stanley Fields ... Tramp
- Paul Hurst... Captain
- Sam Hayes ... Radio Announcer/Assistant Director
- Sonja Henie ... Herself
- Shirley Temple ... Herself - at Premiere (uncredited)
See also
External links
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