Soyuzmultfilm Moscow 1959
A puppet movie
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves based on an Arab fairy tale
screenwriter A. Makovskiy director Grigoriy Lomidze
art director Vitold Bordzilovskiy camera Nikolay Grinberg, Teodor Bunimovich
composer Eduard Kolmanovskiy backgrounds A. Durakov sound Boris Filchikov script editor Boris Voronov
puppeters Lev Zhdanov, K. Mamonov, D. Melamed, Boris Meyerovich,
Pavel Petrov, V. Shilobreyev, V. Puzanov, Mariya Benderskaya
assistant directors A. Dymich, V. Yegorova
puppets and decor Roman Gurov (lead), N. Solntsev, V. Kuranov, Oleg Masainov,
N. Tselikov, Pavel Gusev, G. Lyutinskiy, V. Chernihova
narrator A. Petrosyan
production director Natan Bitman
In this blessed city
long ago, there lived two brothers.
The elder was named Kasim,
and he was a rich merchant.
Many worries troubled Kasim.
He needed to ensure that the fan kept going steadily
so that it would continually bring him a cool breeze.
He needed, every morning,
to drink a sweet sorbet.
He needed to closely watch the cook
so that he would not sniff the fragrant odour of his chicken:
"Hey, hey!" shouted Kasim.
But the younger brother, Ali Baba...
Well, what kind of worries could a poor woodcutter have?
His father had left him an inheritance of only a donkey and an old ax.
And yet, their mother did not live with the rich Kasim,
but with the poor Ali Baba. Such things happen not only in fairy tales.
"We haven't got a single grain of rice left in the house."
"Oh, mother, with such an assistant
we will bring so much firewood today
that it will be enough for a whole bag of rice."
"A bag..? Then buy a hen as well.
I'll cook you a dinner beyond your wildest dreams."
"All right, mother, all right!
I'll be sure to buy a hen, too."
"A suitable tree."
The donkey said nothing.
He had his own ideas on this score.
"If he goes on like this, the way back won't be an easy one."
Suddenly, a group of thieves appeared.
They not only robbed, but also abducted people to sell them into slavery.
"Open sesame!"
shouted the one-eyed leader,
and the rock opened up.
Exactly forty thieves rode into the cave.
Never could Ali Baba have imagined
that sesame, that harmless grass
whose seeds could be squeezed into oil
had such magical power.
"Slaves..."
Maybe there are other captives left in the cave
and Ali Baba could manage to rescue them.
"Dear sesame, would you not be so kind
as to open this rock for me too?"
But the rock did not move.
"If you want the rock to open,
repeat the words the headman uttered,"
the donkey could have said, but remained silent.
He did not like to express his thoughts out loud.
But Ali Baba seemed to have understood.
"Open sesame!"
Yeah, the thieves had not been shy about their work.
How many precious things there were!!
"Have I stopped being a woodcutter?
No, this robe is not for me: you could not chop much firewood in it.
It is a pity that there is no ordinary ax here."
Then Ali Baba decided to take one bag of gold,
to buy himself an ax, and also organize a feast
for all the poor of the city.
"Open sesame!"
You wouldn't believe what strange ideas may come into the mind of an old mother
waiting for her beloved son.
"My son, O joy of my eyes!
Did you really bring a whole bag of rice?"
"So it was not in vain that I asked Kasim to bring me a cauldron for pilaf," his mother fussed.
"Everything is here, mother: the best rice,
sweet kishmish raisins, and fat hens.
Hold out the cauldron, and I will fill it with rice."
"Oh, my poor son, have you robbed someone?" asked his worried mother.
Ali Baba told his mother about the magical cave,
And they began to fill all the vessels
in the house with golden dinars.
The next morning, after having tasted the delicious food,
Kasim decided to do one of the most important things - to take a nap.
Oh dear, oh dear! I hope his mother won't interrupt the sleep of her rich son
as she returns the smoked cauldron to him.
So it was. "Did she burn it"?
Poor people do not know how to handle gold dinars.
So one of them was left stuck to the greasy bottom of the cauldron.
"So this is the kind of pilaf they cooked in my cauldron!
Hey, someone! Help me up, quickly."
"Where did you get so much gold?"
"Ali Baba found a cave full of treasures. He will bring you a bag of gold, too."
"A bag? No, I want lots,
lots and lots of gold," gasped Kasim.
"You will get caught by the thieves in the cave and killed," said Ali Baba.
But when Kasim saw all the gold shining, he lost his cool.
"Tell me where the cave is! Otherwise, I'll drag you to court,
and they'll chop your head off."
"Very well," agreed Ali Baba.
"Go to the high rock and say the magic words: 'open sesame!'
Remember: that is the plant whose are squeezed to make oil."
Meanwhile, Ali Baba hurried to the bazaar with a bag of gold.
Of course; he needed to buy a new ax and the largest cauldron.
After all, mother had promised to cook enough pilaf for all the city's poor.
"100 gold dinars.
100 gold dinars for 1 slave."
"This is the first time I see a merchant spoil his own goods.
But your goods are the most valuable in the world. How much do you want for them?"
"That depends on what you choose.
Some are cheaper.
While others are pricier."
"Uh-huh," thought the donkey and almost said:
"Hey, Ali Baba, watch out for that look!"
But it was his rule not to interfere in the affairs of his master.
"I will not choose. How much for all of them?"
"If you pay a bag of gold, you can take everyone."
Yet, no one expected
that Ali Baba would say:
"All right, I'll pay."
"Take off their chains!"
"Go home. You are free!"
Meanwhile, Kasim hurried to the treasure cave.
"Open sesame!"
Ali Baba even threw the sack at the feet of the greedy merchants.
But suddenly,
because of the sign on the bag
the thieves understood
that this gold had come from their own cave.
"Why did you call me, Muhammad?"
And Muhammad angrily told his one-eyed headman
that the secret of their cave was uncovered. They had been robbed.
Then finally the city guard came running too late, as usual.
Although in her soul the mother was proud of the nobility of her son,
she grumbled all the way. After all, they still had no rice left at home.
And you cannot cook soup from an ax, however new it is. "Don't worry, mother!"
"And why are you following us?"
"I have nowhere else to go.
Take me as a servant in your house, kind lord."
"Lord... what kind of lord am I?" smiled Ali Baba.
"My son is a simple woodcutter, and we do not need a servant.
But if you want to,
stay in our house as a free woman. After all, you're an orphan."
"Well," said Ali Baba, "till now we have shared for two.
Now we will share for three, and the share will be smaller."
"Hey, hemp, now, open the door.
No, not hemp. What was it?..
Oats!
Oats!"
But the rock did not open.
His heart stopped.
"Barley, open the door!
Wheat! Millet! Peas!
Peas!
I forgot..."
"Here he is, the thief!"
"Don't kill me, I'm not guilty! It was Ali Baba. He taught me," bawled Kasim.
"Who is Ali Baba?"
"My brother.
He's a bad person.
He stole your gold and took it away on ten mules.
May Allah be my witness."
"Can you show us
where he lives?"
"Who could do that better than me?" Kasim said happily.
"Quick, give me a horse. I will cut off his head myself."
The headman immediately liked a man who so willingly would betray his own brother.
He even wanted to cut off his head as a sign of his special admiration.
But the thief needed to be found. "Lead on!"
Kasim pointed to the door of Ali Baba's house.
But there were so many doors,
And all were so similar to one another,
That Muhammad decided to use a trick.
Suddenly a mocking voice was heard:
"There is also a cross here."
"And here's another. There!"
The redheaded robber started laughing upon seeing yet another cross.
It turned out that there was not a single door in the street without such a cross.
The headman did not like it when his orders were poorly executed.
And in order to avoid having to wipe his sword twice,
the headman cut off Kasim's head as well.
"Who else will go and find the house of Ali Baba?
He knows the secret of our cave and may tell the Caliph."
"And then the sabers of the Caliph's Guard will tickle our necks," said the thief Osman.
"Like this."
Not by the saber of the Caliph, nor by the saber of the headman did the thieves...
...want their necks cut.
And so only one of them decided to go.
It was not for nothing that he was called Ahmed-Headfirst.
All the thieves readily agreed with this.
"Go forth!" ordered the headman.
Pretending to be blind, early in the morning
Ahmed came to the bazaar square to a shoemaker and asked him:
"Kind man, I'm looking for my brother.
He recently bought some slaves
And paid for them in pure gold."
"The man who bought the slaves their freedom
is named Ali Baba."
"That's just who I need," rejoiced Ahmed.
"I'll give you a gold dinar
if you show me his house."
"For such money I have to work for a whole month.
Hold on to my shoulder, and I will bring you to his house."
"Here is Ali Baba's house."
So the cunning Ahmed put
a small, inconspicuous cross on the door.
But even 10,000 cunning robbers
could not outwit such a woman as Morgiana.
And no one ever called Ahmed "Headfirst" after that.
Because his head was no longer on him.
So then the headman decided to find the house of his enemy himself.
"Do you need to fix your shoes?"
"No. I'm looking for my brother.
I'll give you 2 gold dinars."
"I understand, I understand who you are looking for.
Great is Allah! He rewarded Ali Baba with so many brothers that one couldn't count them all.
Let's go. I'll gladly show you his house."
"Will his other brothers come?" "No."
"That's a pity. Such a pity that his other brothers won't come."
The headman simply counted the doors to Ali Baba's house.
"Open sesame!"
"Thieves! You all know well how to kill and rob.
But none of you could have come up with such a trick
as I have came up with.
Listen!"
Late in the evening, a large caravan
loaded with vessels of expensive oil
entered the city gates.
"Well, that's that." Osman could have said. "Finito."
The one-eyed merchant who brought this caravan,
asked to spend the night at the house of Ali Baba.
Morgiana had somewhere seen
this one-eyed man before,
but could not remember where.
"I'm a poor woodcutter," Ali Baba said, "but there's enough room."
"Hey, Morgiana, put the dog on its chain!
And you, mother, think about what food to treat these travelers to."
"Thank you, kind man.
May Allah fulfill your desires, as you have fulfilled ours."
"He must've brought 10 mule loads of gold out of our cave, yet pretends to be poor!"
So the headman ordered the thieves, at his signal, to break into the house.
"We listen and obey, headman,"
was heard to come quietly from the clay jugs.
This one was too impatient.
And this one just loved the night's coolness.
And he found a vent, though from below.
"Oh mother, these are not merchants, but thieves!
They want to kill Ali Baba!"
"Ali Baba?" exclaimed the alarmed mother.
"Hold them, distract them, Morgiana!"
And she herself ran to wake the inhabitants of the city.
"Osman!
Isn't it time to check if there's enough food for the camels?"
Osman understood, and replied: "It is."
"Hold on, stranger. It's not that door.
Here is the door that leads into our yard."
Though the headman was treacherous and cunning,
he could not have predicted how this beautiful dance would end for him.
"So we meet at last, one-eyed headman!"
"So those are the sort of brothers that our Ali Baba has!"
"Take your gold!" the shoemaker said angrily.
"An honest person has no need for it."
Whoever aspires to goodness and justice
will surely find happiness.
And so our fairy tale, too, came to a happy end.
The End Subs by Lemicnor & Eus (2017.04) Revised by Niffiwan (2026.03)