ALI BABA AND THE SEVEN SARACENS (1964)

(aka Sinbad Against the Seven Saracens, a translation of its original Italian title.) Several Arabian tribes are about to unite under the King of the Throne of Gold. He will be chosen, as per the laws of the Magi, through a tournament of eight warriors, one from each tribe, to take place on the day of a predicted solar eclipse. The men gather and Omar (Gordon Mitchell, pictured), ruthless and merciless, aims to win. Meanwhile, Ali Baba is leading his tribe, the Marrishi, in a revolt against Omar. After they arrive by sea, two of his captured men are tortured and one of them reveals the whereabouts of the invading party. Ali Baba escapes an attack and is taken to a cave in the desert by the buxom harem girl Fatima. She is the niece of court member Haswan, and Omar has a thing for her, much to the annoyance of his official mistress Farida. In two seconds flat, Fatima and Ali Baba fall in love for no particular reason. The two are captured and thrown into a prison for slaves, but Ali Baba, as the tournament representative of his tribe, is set to join the other warriors. Haswan, who appears to be loyal to Omar, actually helps the rebel slaves in their escape plans. More directly helpful are Meneth and his pal, the dwarf Jukki, who proves invaluable in sneaking through tiny secret corridors. Also helpful is the harem eunuch who communicates in tics and grunts. On the day of the eclipse, the tournament goes on and, as one might predict, it comes down to Omar and Ali Baba in a final face-off on chariots, as the slaves wait outside the city's stone gate, hoping that Jukki can access the secret mechanism that opens it and will allow the rebels to help Ali Baba.

Between a poor print, bad dubbing, and sloppy writing, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of my summary. I may have taken some liberties, but I think it’s pretty close to what really happens. In the original Italian print, the lead’s name is Sindbad, but it might as well be Joe or Bob for all the character has to do with actual Arabian Nights tales. The well-muscled Gordon Mitchell, who usually plays peplum heroes, chews the scenery as the chief villain. Dan Harrison (real name Bruno Piergentili) is handsome but otherwise not terribly well equipped to be a muscleman hero. If the two had switched roles, they might have been more effective, though I don't know that Harrison had it in him to deliciously overact. Sword and sandal fanboys love Bella Cortez as Fatima (she co-starred with Mitchell when he was a hero in THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS; she’s certainly physically right for the part. Carla Calo as Farida has little to do except be featured in a pajama "catfight" with Fatima that turns into a free-for-all. I should mention the odd character of Sharif (Tony Dimitri), Omar's chief henchman. Always wearing a red velvety robe, he is seen frequently but has little to do except purse his lips and clasp his hands in a somewhat fey manner. I kept expecting him to be gay (in the opening, he seems to enjoy watching the torture of two sweaty bare-chested men) or involved in secret plotting, but no such luck. A crucial midnight scene plays out in bright daylight, with no attempt made at even minimal day-for-night. I started watching this on a bad DVD print, then found a YouTube version which claims to have been "AI restored." They appear to be the same print, choppy and badly panned-and-scanned, though the restored version is a little clearer (and also a little shiny, an AI artifact I assume). Also, the second and third reels seem reversed. The visiting six Saracens arrive at Omar's palace and introduce themselves, then ten minutes later, we get a scene of Omar going over the rules of the tournament as though the six fighters hadn't been chosen yet. The battle scenes are fine. I might watch this again if a truly restored widescreen print ever turns up. [DVD/YouTube]