The vastly entertaining “The Thief of Bagdad” from 1940 still holds audience’s attention today. This Arabian fantasy story filmed in Technicolor won Oscars for special effects, art direction, and cinematography. It was the first movie to employ the use of bluescreening, thanks to the ingenuity of producer Alexander Korda.
He employed three directors (Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan) to film this story of a young street thief who gets involved with a prince cheated out of his throne. A genie helps to get everything back on track. The screenplay by Lajes Biro and Miles Malleson was a remake of the 1924 silent picture starring Douglas Fairbanks. (In this version, the street thief and the prince are separate characters.)
The star of this show is Sabu Dastagir, John Justin, Conrad Veidt, June Duprez, Rex Ingram, Miles Malleson, Morton Selton, Mary Morris, and Glynis Johns in an uncredited cameo role. “The Thief of Bagdad” was successful at the box office for London Films and United Artists. Various remakes have come out over the years, in 1952, 1961, 1978, and, “Aladdin” in 1992 and 2019 from Walt Disney Pictures.
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
cinema
My Review
The vastly entertaining “The Thief of Bagdad” from 1940 still holds audience’s attention today. This Arabian fantasy story filmed in Technicolor won Oscars for special effects, art direction, and cinematography. It was the first movie to employ the use of bluescreening, thanks to the ingenuity of producer Alexander Korda.
He employed three directors (Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan) to film this story of a young street thief who gets involved with a prince cheated out of his throne. A genie helps to get everything back on track. The screenplay by Lajes Biro and Miles Malleson was a remake of the 1924 silent picture starring Douglas Fairbanks. (In this version, the street thief and the prince are separate characters.)
The star of this show is Sabu Dastagir, John Justin, Conrad Veidt, June Duprez, Rex Ingram, Miles Malleson, Morton Selton, Mary Morris, and Glynis Johns in an uncredited cameo role. “The Thief of Bagdad” was successful at the box office for London Films and United Artists. Various remakes have come out over the years, in 1952, 1961, 1978, and, “Aladdin” in 1992 and 2019 from Walt Disney Pictures.