The Thief Of Bagdad

The Thief Of Bagdad
1940 - United Artists
Directed By Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan



SYNOPSIS

Prince Ahmad (John Justin) has been deposed as ruler of Bagdad by the evil wizard Jaffar (Conrad Veidt) and imprisoned. He meets a young thief Abu (Sabu) and the two escape to Basra. There, Ahmad falls in love with a princess (June Duprez.) But Jaffar visits the town and takes her for his bride. She escapes but Jaffar blinds Ahmad and turns Abu into a dog. The two set off on a journey to find her and encounter a genie, magic carpet, a flying mechanical horse and more!



MY THOUGHTS

A nearly perfect adventure film for kids of all ages.

Thief of Bagdad is a fun and enchanting ride. It's made up of many of the best bits from the classic 1,001 Nights/Arabian Nights and is a delight from start to finish.

The brilliant early Technicolor process makes the film look as good as or even better than The Adventures Of Robin Hood or The Wizard Of Oz... in other words beautiful. As in those films, the colors aren't quite a perfect match to reality, so it makes the whole look of the film like a storybook.

Conrad Veidt plays an excellent villain and this was one of his most well known performance of his career which stretched from the classics The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to Casablanca.
John Justin was an adequate, if a bit effete, hero. June Duprez barely even registered.
Sabu shines as Abu. His sheer enthusiasm outweighs his limitations as a dramatic actor and he's one of the highlights here.
Rex Ingram, as the genie, is the other highlight. He makes the most of his 'small' screen time, with his larger than life performance. It was a rare, meaty non-stereotypical role for an African American during the 1940's.



Some of the special effects are still dazzling 70 years later, but most look horribly dated, thanks to the technological leaps since then. They must have looked amazing in its initial release.

There were a few shockingly violent images involving head wounds that may scare young ones, but they are very brief.

It's also odd the overuse of many Hindu gods and images in a Islamic world. I wonder if the filmmakers just threw them in because the (pre-globalization) public didn't know better and they looked cool.

But overall, the film is fast paced and an exciting swashbuckling adventure that could keep young kids attention, even 70 years later.