Yorick
Here we go again: she's smarter, more tenacious, and of course more beautiful than anyone else. And boy, is she rugged too! This film is apparently a historically famous effort, but comes up short because there's not enough of the real star. We'll just have to take what we can get and be happy. (By the way, they've got the "Open O Sesame" bit all wrong--as Popeye showed us it's really "Open Sez Me!" And there's even a song about olive oil--but the wrong kind--they sing about the stuff you use for food, not the real Olive Oyl.)
MARIO GAUCI
I knew of this Oriental musical adventure (produced by the pioneering Michael Balcon and already filmed as a Silent), but wasn't aware that it was directly inspired by the Arabian Nights fable of Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves (in spite of its being retitled ALI BABA NIGHTS; more on this later). The current title is rather misleading, as it gives one the impression of being set in China – and especially since the character of Chu-Chin-Chow himself, a Chinese merchant, is only a minor one. Besides, being a British film from the early Talkie era, I fully expected it to be a stodgy affair – merely "a curiosity", as Leslie Halliwell called it. However, I found it an enthralling and highly enjoyable piece of work – and still pretty much a unique entertainment after all these years.Incidentally, prior to viewing the film I re-read DVD Savant's review (if anything to ascertain myself that it was fitting Christmas fare) – I was quite intrigued by Glenn Erickson's comments (sharing his view of the ornate sets as being a particular standout), but also ended up disagreeing with his opinion about the static quality of the cinematography…as I actually felt that Max Greene's camera was reasonably mobile throughout. Being undeniably archaic by today's standards, the songs, Busby Berkeley-ish dance numbers, and the comedy and romance elements are all a matter of taste – in fact, they constitute the film's main source of longueurs, if still intrinsically charming ingredients of the whole package. On the other hand, it turned out to be surprisingly bloodthirsty for what was essentially popular entertainment! The plot has been opened up from the traditional story, while also making Ali Baba a coward – but this is the still the most satisfying version I've watched, certainly the most fascinating (for various reasons).The villain is played by Fritz Kortner (looking like a flabbier, less handsome version of Douglas Fairbanks at times and a Wallace Beery-lookalike at others, but with a voice sounding uncannily like that of Otto Preminger!), gives an entertainingly ripe performance – witness his orgasmic thirsting for Ali Baba's blood as he lays out his plans for the final assault (he's even made to don a number of clever disguises throughout). The formidable Anna May Wong has a relatively small role but is quite impressive nonetheless. George Robey's Ali Baba, then, is accompanied by a comically somnolent theme tune every time he appears; I'd only seen his brief performance in Laurence Olivier's Shakespearian adaptation of HENRY V (1944), but I can see how the actor's amiable brand of fooling would be lapped up by audiences of the time – incidentally, I need to pick up his DON QUIXOTE (1933) on DVD, a film directed by German émigré G.W. Pabst (with whom Kortner himself had made the seminal PANDORA'S BOX [1929]). Lovely Pearl Argyle isn't the typically bland damsel-in-distress, but rather a resourceful heroine; Dennis Hoey (Inspector Lestrade of the modernized Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes series) is Kortner's second-in-command; Francis L. Sullivan is very amusing as the perennially bored Caliph, who's then overjoyed when Abu Hasan's plans are foiled in his presence – thinking that it was all part of the evening's entertainment as prepared by Ali Baba!; Malcolm McEachern – billed simply as Jetsam! – is the burly majordomo with a baritone voice who acts as Chorus throughout.Curiously enough, a full 19 years later it was re-issued in the U.S. by Robert Lippert in a much shorter version (reduced from 102 minutes to 76!) retitled ALI BABA NIGHTS – this version is available on Disc 2 of VCI's surprising 3-Disc Set of CHU-CHIN-CHOW, and accompanied by the Popeye ALI BABA short I viewed recently. Ironically, this re-edit is presented in a better-looking print than the 'original' – but the image has been zoomed-in somewhat; many of the songs have been dropped (making the few that remain feel somewhat incongruous), though not the various dances; the romantic subplots are diminished, and so is the role of Robey's elderly wife and plump lover; ditto the allusion during the final banquet to The Caliph's vindictive treatment of disappointing hosts; some of the edits, however, are clumsily done – especially the death scene of Robey's brother, which is interrupted half-way through!One last word: Fritz Kortner followed this with another exotic melodrama, the even better-regarded ABDUL THE DAMNED (1935) – which has been thoughtfully included by VCI in this set (see below for my comments about that film).
eddie-56
This film would have been shown in New Zealand when I was about 7 or 8 I'm now 78. There are some films from that era that stand out in my mind and this is one of them. I must have seen thousands of films since, 95% now forgotten but I always remembered Chu Chin Chow and have waited for it in vain on TCM. Checked it out on Amazon and there it was on DVD, it arrived this morning and I have watched it in full. I'm not disappointed. It is hard to believe that this was a British production because it is way up there with the best of the Americans of the era. George Robey is great and Anna May Wong a gem. It is a DVD I'll watch more than once.
ptb-8
Sumptuous British Gainsborough Pictures production with a huge budget for its day ($500K) plays a lot like a cross between THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD and KISMET all bumbling through meters of silk and pearls on their way to a Gilbert and Sullivan convention.Anna Mae Wong is just so beautiful and this very funny - delicious- farce is a pleasure to watch. Often referred to as an antique musical in that creaky British manner of 30s films - it is actually a lot better than that and viewers will find the whole concoction quite intoxicating. I am sure it did influence Hollywood and had Selznick known it was possible to make such a lavish fantasy musical I am sure he would have made in color too. Instead he made THE GARDEN OF ALLAH which this gives more than a veiled nod towards. Of course if Howard Hughes press-ganged RKO onto it we would have got ...huh? we did? oh yes...THE SON OF SINBAD. Chu Chin is good Chow. Enjoy!
