"Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves"—with a cast headed by Nehemiah Persoff (as Ali Baba), Vivian Nathan, Thomas Gomez and Bruce Gordon—was presented on "Shirley Temple's Storybook" Wednesday, Nov. 12, 1958 at 7:30 p. m. Others in the cast are Rafael Campos, Miriam Colon, Alfred Ryder, Robert Carricart, and Joe Duval.
"Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves" is the classic story from "The Arabian Nights" collection of Oriental tales. The teleplay was written by F. William Durkee Jr. and Norman Lessing. Direction is by James Neilson and a special musical score for the filmed production has been composed and conducted by, Davd Buttolph.
A humble woodcutter, Ali Baba (Nehemiah Persoff) and his son Abdullah (Rafael Campos) accidentally learn the location and means of entrance to a fantastic cache of treasure, used by a band of thieves. Unable to keep the secret of the cave from his greedy brother Kasim (Thomas Gomez), Ali Baba reveals the magic password. Kasim, intending to steal all of the treasure for himself, goes alone to the cave where he is discovered by the robbers and killed. Before dying, he reveals to the thieves that his brother knows their hiding place. Their captain (Bruce Gordon) disguises himself as a merchant aid, with his men hidden in huge oil jars, goes to the home of Ali Baba, The woodcutter, sadly altered by the sudden acquisition of wealth, is flattered into inviting the "merchant" to be his guest. Morgiana (Miriam Colon) the slave girl, by chance discovers the contents of the oil jars in the courtyard. Aided by Ali Baba's wile (Vivian Nathan), she contrives to do away with the thieves and eventually does a bewitching dance, which culminates in sudden death for the robber captain.
Written by TVgy1960wXc on Oct 21, 2023