Ali Baba Goes to Town
Lobby card
Directed by	David Butler
Written by	C. Graham Baker Gene Fowler Gene Towne Harry Tugend Jack Yellen
Produced by	Darryl F. Zanuck David Hempstead
Starring	Eddie Cantor Tony Martin Roland Young
Cinematography	Ernest Palmer
Edited by	Irene Morra
Music by	Robert Russell Bennett
Production company	20th Century Fox
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	October 29, 1937 (1937-10-29)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Ali Baba Goes to Town is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by David Butler and starring Eddie Cantor, Tony Martin, and Roland Young. Cantor plays a hobo named Aloysius "Al" Babson, who walks into the camp of a movie company that is making the Arabian Nights. He falls asleep and dreams he is in Baghdad as an advisor to the Sultan (Young). He organizes work programs, taxes the rich, and abolishes the army, in a spoof of Roosevelt's New Deal. This film was the second of three in which Shirley Temple and Cesar Romero appeared together, second was Wee Willie Winkie (1937) and The Little Princess (1939).^[1]

The cast also includes Gypsy Rose Lee, using the stage name of Louise Hovick, as the Sultana. The Raymond Scott Quintette also appears, performing "Twilight In Turkey."

Plot

Cast

• Eddie Cantor as Ali Baba/Aloysius 'Al' Babson
• Tony Martin as Yusuf/Announcer at Premiere
• Roland Young as Sultan
• June Lang as Princess Miriam
• Gypsy Rose Lee as Sultana
• Raymond Scott as Orchestra Leader
• John Carradine as Ishak/Broderick
• Virginia Field as Dinah
• Alan Dinehart as Boland
• Douglass Dumbrille as Prince Musah
• Maurice Cass as Omar, The Rug Maker
• Warren Hymer as Tramp
• Stanley Fields as Tramp
• Paul Hurst as Captain
• Sam Hayes as Radio Announcer/Assistant Director
• Sidney Fields as Assistant Director
• Ferdinand Gottschalk as Chief Councilor
• Charles Lane as Doctor
• Jeni Le Gon as Specialty Dancer
• The Peters Sisters as Specialty Act
• The Pearl Twins as Specialty Dancers

Uncredited Guests At Premiere:

• Phyllis Brooks as Herself
• Dolores del Río as Herself
• Douglas Fairbanks as Himself
• Jack Haley as Himself
• Sonja Henie as Herself
• Victor McLaglen as Himself
• Tyrone Power as Himself
• The Ritz Brothers as Themselves
• Cesar Romero as Himself
• Ann Sothern as Herself
• Shirley Temple as Herself

Production

Two men were killed and two injured on August 27, 1937, when the flying carpet rig collapsed in the studio. The "carpet" was a 1,500-pound (680 kg) platform suspended high above the floor by piano wires attached to the four corners. The platform fell while it was being tested; none of the actors were on set. Three workmen had been riding on the carpet, with one, camera grip Harry Harsha, dying from his injuries the next day, and 48-year-old actor and prop man Philo Goodfriend was crushed to death underneath. Goodfriend had also been the commodore of Santa Monica Yacht Club.^[2]

Cultural references

A clip from Ali Baba Goes to Town is shown in the film The Day of the Locust (1975), in which Karen Black plays an aspiring actress in 1930s Hollywood. A brief shot of Black is edited into the Ali Baba footage to create the impression that her character played a bit role in that film.

Some scenes from Ali Baba Goes to Town are described in detail in Swing Time by Zadie Smith. The character Tracey resembles the dancer Jeni LeGon, who performs in the film.