The image features an interior medium shot inside the Sultan's palace and depicts Ali Baba (Eddie Cantor) as he literally wins the hand of the beautiful blonde Dinah (Virginia Field) as the couple talks with an older man looks at Ali Baba with skepticism. Printed on single-weight stock with a glossy finish, this vintage original photograph is in near-fine condition with only a 1.75 in. diagonal crease on the bottom right corner that just barely goes through the corner of the image area and very light signs of wear on the tips of the other three corners. There are no pinholes, tears, stains or other flaws and the image quality is razor-sharp with nice contrast. Please note that this photograph actually has more contrast and features richer dark tones than they appear in the accompanying scan. Two special-effects technicians--grip Harry Harsha and propman Philo Goodfriend--were killed when a machine that was being used to make the "flying carpet" look like it was flying jumped off its tracks and fell on them. Star Eddie Cantor appears as himself in the film's final sequence with Tony Martin. Newsreel footage of the many stars appearing at the Carthay Circle Theatre premiere of Wee Willie Winkie (1937), starring Shirley Temple, is used for the film's finale. The original release prints of this film used a then-revolutionary three-tone tinting process utilizing sepia and copper. Blue and orange mixed with copper were used for night sequences while sepia, amber and copper were used for daytime scenes. Ali Baba Goes to Town; 20th Century-Fox; 1937; dir: David Butler; cast: Eddie Cantor, Tony Martin, Roland Young, Gypsy Rose Lee, Raymond Scott and His Quartet, John Carradine, Virginia Field, Alan Dinehart, Douglass Dumbrille, Maurice Cass, Warren Hymer, Stanley Fields, Paul Hurst, Sam Hayes. |