Spanish title: El Hijo de Ali Baba
Stars: Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie, Susan Cabot, William Reynolds, Hugh O’Brian, Victor Jory
Directed by: Kurt Neumann
Distributor: Universal Pictures

"Soul of a Prince, heart of a poet… with steel in his hand and a kiss on the lips, the sensational stars of "The Prince Who Was a Thief", together again! And… in love!"

If you’re one of the few people on the planet who think Ali Baba (or his son) would have had a 50’s greaser hairstyle, then Son of Ali Baba might be just for movie for you. 

Fortunately, I doubt many people fall into that category, and thus Son of Ali Baba is generally considered to be an ‘Elvis film’ that doesn’t actually have Elvis in it. 

The Spanish lobby card promoting the release is a good design, albeit very text-boxy (such being Universal’s way in the 50’s), with some painted over cut’n'paste pics of Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie in a romantic embrace, as well as plenty of illustrations of dancing harem girls (which I’ll never complain about – ever).

Our version features a good ensemble sill photo, no pinholes and decidedly little abuse collected over the last 50+ years, which is nice. 

Spanish title: Dos Seductores (Two Seducers)
Stars: Marlon Brando, David Niven, Shirley Jones
Directed by: Ralph Levy
Distributor: Universal Pictures

"The Blue Coast shines with the gallant adventures of two gigolos."

Better known these days by the name of its remake, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, this bedrooms and hallways Euro-comedy pit two most definitely unlikely actors together in Marlon Brando and David Niven.

Both play European gigolos who, upon discovering they’re working the same turf, decide to challenge each other to a contest to see who is ‘king of the mountain’ (which was the working title of the film). Their plans meet a hurdle, however, when the innocent woman they choose as a target turns out to be anything but.

The highlight of the Spanish lobby card release for this film would have to be Marlon Brando professing his love in black shoes and socks, and red boxer shorts. Hilarious.

Spanish title: Beso de Fuego
Stars: Jack Palance, Barbara Rush, Rex Reason, Martha Hyer, Alan Reed, Leslie Bradley
Directed by: Joseph M. Newman
Distributor: Universal Pictures

"It was the kiss that changed the course of an empire!"

You’ve gotta love the supreme tackiness that was Jack Palance in the 40’s and 50’s. Whenever you needed a bad guy with a heart of gold – a Roman Emperor you loved to hate, or a gunslinger who gets the girl in the end, or a Robin Hood-like rogue in dark green tights – Palance was your man.

This film focused on the story of a Spanish Princess, mourning her recently deceased father, who must get back to Europe from… uh… Santa Fe, New Mexico? …so that she can claim her rightful crown before a contender takes her place. To get there, she needs the help of El Tigre (Palance), a rough and ready guide who can navigate the perils of the assorted bad guys out to stop her from getting home.

And of course, she hates him. And of course, she learns to love him.

Universal lobby cards of this time often followed a similar design template as this one, with a large fonted title up top, a small white box listing cast members off to the side, and several cut’n'paste still images scattered about, that were then painted over to appear like original art.

Despite the unimpressive nature of the film, this is one of the most beautiful lobby cards in our collection, featuring Palance in several dramatic poses; one romantically embracing his co-star, and another on the attack with a pair of knives at hand. And you’ve gotta love the shot of Babs Rush up top, showing a little regal thigh – she puts the ‘rush’ in ‘rush of blood’, don’t you think?

The copy in our collection features three smudges of green ink, likely a result of an awry print run, but because of the dramatic, deep color that abounds in the design, you barely notice them.

One interesting thing to note is a tiny inscription that says "Contreras" on the bottom left hand corner, right by Palance’s tightly-clad behind. We assume that’s the name of the designer of the lobby card, but as they were so rarely signed by the artist in this era (especially when the original art was based on stills and not hand-painted), it could also be the name of the printing company. Any info from readers in the know would be much appreciated.

UPDATE: We were just looking through our collection and noticed something on the back of this lobby card – a hand-scrawled ad for a 1954 film called El Rapto (translated: The Kidnapping), starring Jorge Negrete and Maria Felix.

This was a Mexican western comedy/drama, directed by Emilio ‘El Indio’ Fernández, who served as the model for the Oscar statuette of the Academy Awards… seriously!

"Además" means ‘in addition’, so this was likely some theater manager’s effort at alerting customers that there was a second feature attached to the main bill. Funny what you sometimes find on these lobby cards…

Spanish title: Vuelve… i Amor Mio!
Stars: Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, Edia Adams, Jack Oakie, Jack Kruschen
Directed by: Delbert Mann
Distributor: Universal Mexico

"They see my little nest… me a turtle dove, him a sparrowhawk…"

Lord knows what the slugline means, but this is a great kitschy lobby card if you can ignore the hokey text written on it.

As with so many of the 1960’s card designs, this one is short on original art and long on cut’n'paste images, but the way it’s all brought together makes it compelling wall art regardless, especially when you spot the Universal International ‘50th Anniversario’ logo (1912-1962) and mention of Jack Oakie in his final movie apearance.

The film was released in Mexico by the Universal office that was located at Ignacio Mariscal 59, Mexico 1, D. F., and this particular lobby card has a little browning around the edges, and what looks like one very old coffee drop stain. No pinholes, however, so that’s a bonus.