Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

Ali Baba runs errands for his wealthy merchant brother Kasım and lives by selling firewood he gathers in the forest. One day his brother sends him to another town. On the road he comes upon the forty thieves and, from his hiding place, learns where the cave holding their treasure is and the words that open the door. He takes a few sacks of gold and goes home. Kasım learns the location too and goes to the cave, but the thieves catch him and he does not come back. What follows is the thieves coming down into the town to find Ali Baba. This is one of the fairy-tale adaptations Yeşilçam turned out often in the seventies: sets built on a limited budget, fast shooting and a comic ensemble together. Sadri Alışık's Ali Baba is not a hero but a fearful and cunning man, and that sets the tone of the film. Erol Taş is in the cast, one of the best-known villain faces of Yeşilçam. The story stays faithful to the tale from the Thousand and One Nights, though the humour belongs entirely to its period.