Aladdin is a poor tailor in Baghdad. An elderly sorcerer promises him great wealth, and the hand of the lovely Princess Dinarzade, daughter of the Caliph, in return for a favour. The old man shows Aladdin a deep well from which he must bring up a lamp. Aladdin does so, but when he asks to be let out before handing over the lamp the sorcerer becomes angry and shuts him in the well.

Aladdin lights the lamp, and an all-powerful genie appears to do his every bidding. He brings Aladdin home, makes him rich and builds him a great palace. Aladdin woos Dinarzade and marries her with her father's approval. But one day when Aladdin is out the old sorcerer tricks Dinarzade into giving him the lamp. He magics her and the palace far away.

Furious, the Caliph condemns Aladdin to death, but he escapes in a small boat. Shipwrecked in a storm, he's thrown up on a mountainous shore where he sees his palace. There he finds Dinarzade. Regaining the lamp, he banishes the sorcerer into the sky, then transports the palace back to Baghdad. The Caliph, overjoyed at his daughter's return, pardons Aladdin.

Philip Kemp