![]() Theater organs are usually good for silent films, but this one really calls for an orchestra so vast is the sweep of this silent classic.Īt two and half hours plus, The Thief Of Bagdad runs longer than most silent films did by far. I also must comment on the orchestrations of themes of Rimsky-Korsakov by the London Symphony Orchestra. With all that legendary talent in its salad days no wonder The Thief Of Bagdad holds up as well as it does today. The sets were created of course by young William Cameron Menzies in one of his earliest films, costumes by Mitchell Leisen, and the director was Raoul Walsh, all of them getting big boosts in their careers from Douglas Fairbanks. I wouldn't be surprised if Griffith took an unofficial hand here. Producer Fairbanks spared no expense in creating the sets for The Thief Of Bagdad, the sets look like something Cecil B. Griffith had gotten United Artists up and running as the production company for their films which it was primarily doing in those early days. And of course in typical bravura Fairbanks style, he puts the Mongols to flight with an army created out of nowhere.īy this time Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. She sneaks him out of the palace before what happens to upwardly mobile aspirants in that society happens to Fairbanks.īut holy man Charles Belcher says that Fairbanks has a future with the princess and he's put through a lot of tests before he can wed. Fairbanks ultimately can't go through with the deception though he charms the princess. One of them, Japanese actor Rojin is the Mongol prince and if he can't woo the Caliphate in alliance, he'll steal the kingdom with his army which he starts infiltrating in Bagdad. Still he tries to pass himself off as a prince and he's in competition with three other princes for her hand. When he steals a magic rope and climbs into the Caliph's Palace and beholds the sight of the princess Julanne Johnston, there will be no other woman for him.īut the Bagdad Caliphate is not an upwardly mobile society, not for the poor, but honest and not for a criminal. Fairbanks is the professional thief who can steal just about anything, big or small. Here Douglas Fairbanks essentially plays both parts of the two heroes that Sabu and John Justin play in the Korda version. The Tales of the Arabian Nights was the inspiration for this The Thief Of Bagdad and the more familiar sound version that Alexander Korda produced and shot here in the USA as well due to wartime conditions in Great Britain. Although the senior Fairbanks in closeups might have looked a little long in the tooth to be playing the young thief who wooed and won a princess, he hadn't lost a bit of athleticism that his films were known for. ![]() He said that of all the films that his father did this was the junior Fairbanks's favorite. I happened to see The Thief Of Bagdad on a VHS that had a narration by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Reviewed by bkoganbing 9 / 10 From Out Of Nowhere Some, mostly action sequences, are obviously almost directly copied.Ī great fun movie, from swashbuckling-specialist director Raoul Walsh. It's good simple fun that's professionally and well made, that's also beautiful to look at.Īlso definitely fun to see how much of this movie was later used again in Disney's "Aladdin". It's of course all rather simple and formulaic but this is also what makes the genre so great. Especially toward the ending the movie starts to become greatly adventurous after a sort of slower middle and good first part. The story has all the ingredients needed for such a genre movie as this one an heroic main character, a love interest, stereotypical villains and lots of fun and action. The movie also has some silly looking but yet great early special effects, toward the ending of the movie. Really great looking stuff! (though obviously all fake.) Something you would normally expect to see in a D.W. The movie is really great looking, with many grand looking sets. It's not hard to see why this man was THE swashbuckling hero of the '20's. He handles all of the athletic action in the movie really well. He looks, acts, breaths, eats like a real superstar. ![]() ![]() Add to that Douglas Fairbanks in good shape and you have a classic unforgettable genre movie!ĭouglas Fairbanks is totally great in this one. It has all the typical adventurous, action and comedy elements present to make this a great swashbuckling movie. This movie is great fun to watch, like you would expect from a genre movie such as this one. Reviewed by Boba_Fett1138 9 / 10 Fun '20's swashbuckler, starring Douglas Fairbanks! ![]()
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