The Forty Thieves

Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter in Persia, accidentally discovers a secret cave used by forty thieves to store their stolen wealth. He escapes by overhearing the magical password "Open Sesame" and takes only enough gold for his family, keeping the discovery a close secret. His greedy brother Cassim forces Ali Baba to reveal the location, but he forgets the magic word upon leaving and is killed by the returning thieves. Morgiana, Ali Baba's clever slave, helps hide Cassim's death from the robbers, buying time for her master. The Captain of the Thieves sends agents to find who betrayed them, but Morgiana outsmarts each one by marking other houses with chalk to confuse their search. When the Captain disguises himself as an oil merchant and brings thirty-eight men hidden in jars to Ali Baba's home, Morgiana detects the plot while fetching oil. She pours boiling hot oil into every jar, killing all the thieves inside without raising suspicion. The surviving Captain later returns in another disguise to assassinate Ali Baba during a meal, but Morgiana recognizes him as he refuses salt. During a dance performance, she plunges her dagger into the Captain's heart, finally ending the threat of the Forty Thieves. Ali Baba rewards Morgiana with her freedom and marries her to his son for her bravery. With the danger gone, Ali Baba claims the treasure for himself and his family.