Son of Ali Baba is a fantasy adventure film starring one iconic actor (Tony Curtis) one iconic actress (Piper Laurie) and directed by Kurt Neuman, the man responsible for The Fly and other whacky sci-fi B pictures.
In Son of Ali Baba, Curtis plays, Kashma Baba, son of a thief from Baghdad, Ali Baba (Morris Ankrum, Kronos). During the day, Kashma Baba is a cadet in a medieval Persian military academy, but at night he loves to party and mingle with the lovely ladies. This causes resentment with Hussein (Hugh O’Brian (Rocketship X-M), but his father, the caliph (Victor Jory, Gone with the Wind) doesn’t seem to mind. Hussein would love nothing more than to show the ladies that Kashma Baba is a phony.
The morning after a wild banquet Kiki (Piper Laurie, Carrie) a runaway slave, hides out in Kashma’s home. He lets her stay and they fall madly in love but is Kiki there to expose Kashma in some type of scheme from Hussein? It could be, because harboring an escaped slave-girl is considered a treasonous act. Go figure that one!
Son of Ali Baba is a colorful, fun-filled adventure film. Tony Curtis New Yorker accent does not exactly mesh with his dialog as one would think, but we will give a pass this time because this movie is not exactly an epic film. The accent is not utterly awful to ruin the film, but it is noticeable. The film has a lot cast members that will be quite familiar to those who watch low-budgeted pictures which includes Hugh O’Brian, Gerald Mohr (The Angry Red Planet) and Susan Cabot (The Wasp Woman) and they all hand in decent enough performances. Son of Ali Baba basically a B-movie with a couple of A list actors and several who were mainly in low-budget films that wound up staying in them.
Son of Ali Baba arrives on Blu-ray via Kino Lorber. The 1080p technicolor image looks vibrant and lovely throughout. Colors such as pink, dark red and greens look especially rich and bold. The scenery is rich with deep textures. Skin tones look accurate and detailed. No DNR appears to have been applied; the movie retains a film-like appearance.
The English DTS-HD master audio 2.0 track for the film is flawless with spoken lines, music and action sounds coming in clear overall. I did not notice any serious audio issues on the lossless track. Kino offers optional English subtitles for this release.
Extras are basically part of a pattern Kino Lorber has gone with. They include a commentary and trailers. Author and Film Historian Lee Gambin provides a thorough commentary about the film, also reflecting on some conversations he had with Piper Laurie and her impressions of Tony Curtis. Commentary fans and aficionados should enjoy this.
Theatrical Trailers for Son of Ali Baba, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, The Vikings, and Taras Bulba round out the extras.
Another solid release from Kino Lorber for a movie that ranges from average to excellent depending on who you talk to. You will be entertained and be wowed by just how good Son of Ali Baba looks on Blu-ray!
Son of Ali Baba
Director- Kurt Neumann
Cast- Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie, Susan Cabot
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 8/10/20