The Adventures of Hajji Baba

1954 "The girls pronounce it "Hotcha Baba!""
The Adventures of Hajji Baba
5.9| 1h34m| R| en| More Info
Released: 01 October 1954 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

In Ispahan, Persia, Hajji Baba is leaving his father's shop to seek a greater fortune, while the Princess Fawzia is trying to talk her father, the Caliph into giving her in marriage to Nur-El-Din, a rival prince known far and wide as mean and fickle. Her father intends for Fawzia to marry a friend and ally, and makes plans to send her to him.

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childoasis John Derek was ahead of his time in the movement to uplift the status of women. This movie is really about women claiming their power and not being relegated to a status unequal with men. In his own life, he was so appreciative of the feminine ideal and he served the women he loved quite devotedly. I believe that he was more invested in life than in movies. I believe that he was as handsome as any of the great swashbucklers, and as good a performer. It is such a grace that he played Joshua in the Ten Commandments. Joshua is a true hero of the Bible - of the Hebrew and Christian traditions, both. He was an artist of high integrity and profound passion. This movie shows him in one of his best moments, career-wise, and in our insatiable appetite for entertainment, let us not overlook his travail in this life.
Ilya Mauter The Adventures of Hajji Baba is remotely based on the book by a British writer James Morier who was actually raised in a harem and later served as an English diplomat at the court of the sultan of Iran in the first part of the 19th century. The book called The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan enjoyed quite a success at the time of its release in 1824 not only in England but also in Iran, the fact that encouraged the author to write a sequel called The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan in England where our hero is sent to learn its customs and way of life. This film version hasn't borrowed much from the book except perhaps the name of the main character – Hajji Baba (played by John Derek) and his profession – the barber whose banal, but sweet story we follow as he runs of with a beautiful but very capricious princess Fawzia (Elaine Stewart) who tries to escape from marriage to a man she isn't really crazy about which is imposed by her authoritative father Khalif (Donald Randolph) who is not particularly inclined to consider his daughter's opinion regarding choosing her lifetime partner especially when his power and monetary interests are at stake. But the main Hajji Baba's interest in helping the fugitive princess lies not in her attractive physical appearances but in a ring with a priceless emerald in it, which she happens to possess and which Hajji happens to covet. But gradually a struggle ensues inside of our hero's heart as about the change in the flow of his preferences to the girl instead of the emerald, which are also fed by the attraction the princess feels each time stronger towards the irresistible barber. While all this internal fight is going on, our heroes come through numerous adventures most excitingly dangerous of them being caught by a band of beautiful women-outlaws several of whom were once Fawzia's personal servants who managed to escape mainly from princess' ill temper and promptly turned into bandits. Overall Adventures of Hajji Baba is an ultimate what can be called sex and sand adventure comedy with a lot of beautiful women and sand in it all filmed in larger than life Cinemascope, which somehow covers the films poor story and is significantly helped by a pleasant title song performed by Nat King Cole which can be heard several times throughout the film - `Hajji, Hajji, Hajji, Hajji, Hajji Baba, Hajji Baba.' 7/10
ron-302 Liked it then... and would like to see it again. Loved the background singing of Nat King Cole. Cant wait for it to be on video! I would be interested in anyone knowing of a source of the video or whether it is available to purchase. Please note we use the PAL system in Australia.
TroyAir A classic "B" movie from the 50's, this film features numerous women dressed up like a Vargas painting. I don't remember much about the movie other than a slave girl gets tied down to a table and the soles of her feet are lightly cropped, that Haji encounters a band of Amazon-style women warriors, and that Elaine Stewart's character is captured and bound to a frame until Haji comes to her rescue. No nudity, no harsh language, nothing offensive, just the usual damsels in distress. Since the film was made in the fifties, you can bet that those scanty costumes are sewn onto flesh-colored bodysuits. Still, the slave girl cropping is a bit risque for the time and may be worth seeing.