Forty Thieves
Hulagu Khan was a real person--he was the brother of Kublai Khan, the conqueror of Asia, and the Mongol leader who conquered Iran and Baghdad, as shown in the movie. However, it's generally believed by most historians that he died of natural causes, not murder.,When the thieves are singing as they return to the cave the camera is leading them. The tire tracks of the camera car are plainly visible in the sand in front of the horse's hooves.,Abdullah: For a man's country or his stomach he might bid his life; even for his horse. Never, never for a woman.,Edited into The Sword of Ali Baba (1965),Song of the Forty Thieves
Lyrics by J. Keirn Brennen
Music by Edward Ward
Performed by Universal Studio Chorus,When Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves came out in 1944 we and most of the rest of the world were waging war against tyranny. Although this retelling of the famous Arabian Nights tale about as far removed from the current situation as you could get, still the folks at Universal Pictures definitely had the current war in mind.

The Mongols are bent on world conquest and they've reached the Caliphate of Bagdad and as the Caliph Moroni Olsen is preparing to counterattack he's betrayed by one of his key noble allies Frank Puglia. Olsen is killed but his son escapes and lives. The boy Scotty Beckett grows up to be Jon Hall and seeks refuge among the band of thieves who have that legendary magic cave where they hide out and stash their loot that opens with the words 'open sesame'. Their leader Fortunio Bonanova adopts the boy and the young prince becomes a thief.

At the palace the young girl he played with as a kid is Puglia's daughter and she grows up to be Maria Montez. Puglia has big plans for her, he wants Montez to marry the great Hulagu Khan himself played by Kurt Katch.

The casting of Katch who incidentally in real life was Jewish played any number of Nazi thug types during and after the war. The casting here was by no means an accident. And Puglia could be taken for any number of collaborator figures like Quisling or Laval. The meaning was quite clear to World War II audiences.

Jon Hall and Maria Montez made any number of these kinds of exotic adventure films for Universal Pictures and became a popular screen team. They look as Middle Eastern as Barry Fitzgerald, but they were good looking and the movie-going public ate it up.

The film is easy to take with clear cut heroes and villains. Which in 1944 no one could mistake.,