Monday, November 17, 2025

Musings!


A naked Noëlle Adam, Donald O'Connor (back to us) and Vittorio De Sica in THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN (1961)

I challenge anyone to give a short, concise synopsis of this movie. The story is all over the place. It's a comedy and even though there are some funny moments, it's not a laugh a minute comedy. The way Noëlle Adam's character is treated in this family movie is so peculiar. Yes, this is a family movie. So many questionable things in it. The framing of this shot is so odd. Everything about this movie is wonky. It's available in a super clear Blu-ray which has some really nice photography throughout the oddity. I still can't believe this was available in HD and a pristine print of HERCULES (1958) is still nowhere to be found (not counting those abomination of Blu-ray releases from Japan or France). I still can't believe Steve Reeves was set to star in this. They switched Reeves for O'Connor (!!!) and gave Reeves THIEF OF BAGHDAD. Phew.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

https://www.peplumtv.com/2020/11/article-of-week-wonders-of-aladdin-blu.html

Anonymous said...

RaiPlay TV has HD pristine prints of Le Fatiche di Ercole and Ercole e la Regina di Lidia.

PEPLUM TV said...

The RAI prints are the same as the Japanese and French Blu-rays

Anonymous said...

Every Titanus production I have seen on Blu-ray is exceptional quality
which is why this looks so good. Apparently they kept their original elements in excellent condition. I always heard Reeves was going to star in this as a follow up to Thief of Baghdad but then bowed out. When they got Donald O'Connor as star the script was rewritten as a comedy.