Der Dieb von Bagdad

After 60 some odd years THE THIEF OF BAGDAD is still one of the most

wondrous movies ever made. Filmed in wartime England and without the

use of digital imagry, the film soars and makes believers of us all.

From Rex Ingram's memorable Genie, (has any laugh been better than his

rumbling "BoohooHAHAHAH"?) to the Flying Horse, the six armed murderous

doll, the immense spider and on and on, the film excites in a visceral

way that no FX person could duplicate today. Though we can see through

the primitive special effects, the genius of this film is that the story

is told so well that we suspend our disbelief and fly along on a magic

carpet ride that never flags for all of its almost two hour running

time. Miles Malleson's script (he also plays the heroine's father in a

delightful turn), is filled with what we now see as cliches, but they

still bring a silly grin to our faces as we acknowledge them, and love

them all the same. The acting is WAY over the top and absolutely delightful. Sabu is

perfect as the little thief Abhou, John Justin stalwart as the hero

Ahmed, Conrad Veidt all snarly and despicable as the evil Jafar and June

Duprez all gauzy and creamy as the princess. The real star of the film, the glue that holds all the pieces

together,however, has to be Miklos Rozsa whose musical score evokes

every Arabian Nights fantasy that we have ever dreamed. What glorious

music, what a wondrous fim! (I was lucky enough to get an advance copy

of the new DVD of THIEF OF BAGDAD. What a great print. Wait till you

see it! It will knock your socks off.) I love Spielberg and I love

Lucas, but oh THE THIEF OF BAGDAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The Thief of Bagdad" is impressive in the shape of the evil magician Jaffar (Conrad Veidt). He plots with lies and magic spells to obtain the kingdom from its rightful ruler the young King Ahmad, and a gorgeous princess from her father...

He falls victim in the end, as all tyrants do (in books and legends) to love and of the common man whom he ignored, here embodied by the little thief (Sabu).

The armies of good and evil, black and white, are superbly realized in both visual and literary terms...

The script is poetic, simply and very beautiful... The costumes of the magician and his men rising and falling like the wings of black birds, attacking suddenly in the night to inflict destruction and create terror...

The radiant hero wears white turbans and robes, and his princess is dressed in pinks and pale blues...

For spectacular scenes it matched all that had gone before, while through its use of color, it brought to life a world such as had not seemed possible before...

With flying carpet and flying white horse, with a giant genie (excellently played by Rex Ingram), with evil wizards, and with the good acting of Sabu and Veidt, "The Thief of Bagdad" captures the quality and true atmosphere of the Arabian Nights...

The 1940 version remains the screen's finest fairy tale!

The first time I saw this movie, I was blown away by it's sheer fantasy content. I am a fan of fantasy anyway, and for a film of this time (1940) I was impressed by Alexander Korda's ability to completely immerse one so completely in the story. I believe that during the war-time period these films were especially important for a lot of people in order to distract them, in a positive way, and allow them a brief respite from the harsh realities and depressing aspects of the war. I think that this film had probably fit the bill at that time and even nowadays, it does take you away from the everyday and allows you to indulge in a wonderful tale of fantasy, romance, magic, throughout. June Duprez was stunning and otherworldly in her looks and performance. John Justin played a wonderfully enchanting Ahmed, although I found Sabu's character a bit tedious at times, the rest of the movie, for it's time, was top-notch. A great escapist, put your feet up and enjoy the afternoon, movie. I give it a 7.8 out of 10.

Thief of Bagdad is truly advanced for its time. It has very good special effects. The use of flying carpet sequences is very advanced for 1940. In good prints the color is spectacular. The acting is somewhat stilted, but acceptable for a period piece. Both costume and set design are superior. The music is excellent. Most elements of the film fit together to provide a superior piece of "fluff" entertainment.

The making of The Thief Of Bagdad is quite a story unto itself, almost as wondrous as the tale told in this film. Alexander Korda nearly went broke making this film.

According to the Citadel Film series Book about The Great British Films, adopted son of the United Kingdom Alexander Korda had conceived this film as early as 1933 and spent years of planning and preparation. But World War II unfortunately caught up with Korda and the mounting expenses of filming a grand spectacle.

Budget costs happen in US films too, only Cecil B. DeMille always had a free hand at Paramount after 1932 when he returned there. But DeMille nor any of his American contemporaries had to worry about enemy bombs while shooting the film. Part of the way through the shoot, Korda transported the whole company to America and shot those sequences with Rex Ingram as the genie in our Grand Canyon. He certainly wasn't going to get scenery like that in the UK. Korda also finished the interiors in Hollywood, all in time for a release on Christmas Day 1940.

The spectacle of the thing earned The Thief Of Bagdad four Academy Award nominations and three Oscars for best color cinematography, best art&set direction for a color film, and best special effects. Only Miklos Rosza's original musical score did not take home a prize in a nominated category. Korda must have been real happy about deciding to shoot in the Grand Canyon because it's impossible to get bad color pictures from that place.

The special effects however do not overwhelm the simple story of good triumphing over evil. The good is the two young lovers John Justin and June Duprez and the evil is Conrad Veidt as the sorcerer who tries to steal both a kingdom and a heart, both belonging to Duprez. This was Veidt's career role until Casablanca where he played the Luftwaffe major Stroesser.

Of course good gets a little help from an unlikely source. Beggar boy and thief Sabu who may very well have been one of the few who could call himself at the time an international movie star. Literally rising from poverty working as an elephant stable boy for the Maharajah of Mysore he was spotted by Alexander Korda who needed a native lead for one of his jungle features. Sabu captures all the innocence and mischievousness of youth as he fulfills the Arabian Nights fantasy of the boy who topples a tyrant. Not a bad message to be sending out in 1940 at that.

The Thief Of Bagdad holds up remarkably well today. It's an eternal tale of love, romance, and adventure in any order you want to put it.