''The Wonders of Aladdin'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Le meraviglie di Aladino'') is a 1961 Italian-French-American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

directed by Henry Levin (with second unit direction by

Mario Bava Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the Ma ...

—uncredited in U.S. prints but credited as sole director in Italy) and produced by

Joseph E. Levine Joseph Edward Levine (September 9, 1905 – July 31, 1987) was an American film distributor, financier and producer. At the time of his death, it was said he was involved in one or another capacity with 497 films. Levine was responsible for the ...

for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. The film stars

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. His best ...

as the title character.

Cast

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

* Nöelle Adam as Djalma *

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...

as Geni *

Aldo Fabrizi Aldo Fabrizi (; born Aldo Fabbrizi; 1 November 1905 – 2 April 1990) was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and comedian, best known for the role of the heroic priest in Roberto Rossellini's ''Rome, Open City'' and as partner of Totò in ...

as Sultan *

Michèle Mercier Michèle Mercier (born 1 January 1939 as Jocelyne Yvonne Renée Mercier) is a French actress. In the course of her career she has worked with leading directors like François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Deray, Dino Risi, Mario Monicel ...

as Princess Zaiha *

Milton Reid Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

as Omar *

Mario Girotti Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...

as Prince Moluk *

Fausto Tozzi Fausto Tozzi (29 October 1921 – 10 December 1978) was an Italian film actor and screenwriter. He appeared in 70 films between 1951 and 1978. He wrote the script for ''The Defeated Victor'', which was entered into the 9th Berlin Internation ...

as Grand Vizier *

Marco Tulli Marco Tulli (20 November 1920 – 20 March 1982) was an Italian character actor, probably best known in the role of "Smilzo" in the Don Camillo film series. Born in Rome, Tulli debuted as actor while he was still a university student, at the end ...

as Fakir

Production

O'Connor signed to make the film in October 1960. O'Connor said "The story of Aladdin has been done by everyone but this is its first time around as a comedy." ''The Wonders of Aladdin'' was produced in tandem with two

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagon ...

vehicles, '' Morgan, the Pirate'' and '' The Thief of Baghdad'', with producer

, set designer

Flavio Mogherini Flavio Mogherini (25 March 1922 – 23 April 1994) was an Italian production designer, art director and film director. His career spanned from 1947 to 1994. His daughter Federica Mogherini was High Representative of the Union for Foreign A ...

, cinematographer

Tonino Delli Colli Tonino Delli Colli (20 November 1923 – 16 August 2005) was an Italian cinematographer. Biography Cousin of Franco Delli Colli, Antonio (Tonino) Delli Colli was born in Rome, and began work at Rome's Cinecittà studio in 1938, at the age of ...

and special effects artist

working on all three films; Levine packaged and sold their worldwide distribution rights to

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

Shooting

The film was shot in location in Tunisia with studio work in Rome. Filming started December 1960. The Tunisian government were keen to attract filmmakers to the region and provided much assistance, including the loan of their army as soldiers. According to

camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmaking ...

Marcello Gatti Marcello Gatti (9 February 1924 – 26 November 2013) was an Italian cinematographer. Born in Rome, Gatti started as film operator in early 1940s, then debuted as cinematographer in 1953.Stefano Masi, ''Dizionario mondiale dei direttori della foto ...

, Henry Levin directed "80%" of ''The Wonders of Aladdin'', while Bava's on-set contributions consisted of second unit direction and supervising the film's special effects. Because Bava was also in charge of the film's

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

process in Italy, such as its

dubbing Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...

, Italian and French prints use the credit "A film by Henry Levin, directed by Mario Bava". English language prints only credit Levin with direction.

Tim Lucas Tim Lucas (born May 30, 1956) is a film critic, biographer, novelist, screenwriter, blogger, and publisher and editor of the video review magazine ''Video Watchdog''. Biography and early career Lucas, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, was the only ...

notes in his 2020 audio commentary for the

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...

DVD and Blu-Ray that the use of a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

as a shooting location caused a violent revolt that led to the killing of five people, followed by the killing of a

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

at the American embassy that had cleared the location for the shoot. Lucas notes that Bava himself had numerous spears pointed at his head during the attack, which he considered the most frightening moment in his life. While filming in Tunisia in December, Donald O'Connor suffered a blood hemorrhage on this throat and had to be rushed to hospital.

played a small role. It only took a week but the actor said it was "very tiring because of the tricks." In January, three Americans on the film - O'Connor, Levin and writer Henry Motofsky - accidentally crossed the Tunisian border into Algeria 20 miles south of

Tozeur Tozeur ( ar, توزر, ; ber, ⵜⵓⵣⴻⵔ, Tuzər) is a city in southwest Tunisia. The city is located northwest of Chott el Djerid, in between this Chott and the smaller Chott el Gharsa. It is the capital of Tozeur Governorate. It was the ...

while scouting locations in the Sahara Desert and were arrested. They were held for three hours then returned to the film unit. Filming finished in March 1961. "From now on I'll do nothing but drawing room comedies," said O'Connor, "and the only location I'm going on is in my backyard"."This Hoofer's Home for Good" Hopper, Hedda. ''Los Angeles Times'' 11 June 1961: b11

Reception

Critical reception

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

, while not particularly favorable toward the film, called it "a fun movie".

Box office

According to MGM records, the film made a loss of $276,000.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wonders of Aladdin, The 1961 films 1960s fantasy adventure films American fantasy adventure films English-language Italian films English-language French films French fantasy adventure films Films directed by Henry Levin Films directed by Mario Bava Italian fantasy adventure films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films CinemaScope films Lux Film films Films scored by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino French fantasy comedy films 1960s fantasy comedy films American fantasy comedy films 1962 comedy films 1962 films 1961 comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films 1960s Italian films 1960s French films