Movie Notes: The Thief of Baghdad

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Directors: Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan

This is a remake of the 1924 silent version, but the story is completely rewritten.  In fact, it has more in common with a famous Disney animated movie of my childhood than it has with the Douglas Fairbanks adventure.  It includes a toy-loving sultan, a wily thief and lovable sidekick named Abu, an all powerful but silly genie, and an evil vizier named Jaffar intent on stealing away the toy-loving sultan's daughter.

This is not a perfect film.  Ahmad, the romantic male lead, is dull and uninteresting.  So is the princess in whom he is interested.  However, Sabu plays the titular character Abu to perfection.  He brings energy and life to the whole movie and is a joy to watch.

At the end, the movie springs a philosophical reflection that justifies the whole exercise in spectacle and nonsense in a vein of thought that  reminded me pleasantly of Winnie-the-Pooh or Peter Pan.

Movie Notes: The Thief of Bagdad

I've decided to use the blog to post notes about movies that we've seen.  I used to use Flixter, but that app's been totally repurposed and is no longer suitable for my casual purposes.  You can expect to see a lot of movies posted about here, but don't expect anything insightful or incisive.  The purpose is just to jot down a few thoughts about the movie after watching it in the vein of a film diary.  I find taking notes help cement the films in my memory and it's nice to have some touchstone to check back on.

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Director: Raoul Walsh

This appears to be a pet project of Douglas Fairbanks.  He helped write, starred in, and produced the picture.  His energetic performance as the title character is certainly memorable, if dated; his wild gesticulations and stomping stride were appropriate to their time.  On the other hand, Sojin's more subtle performance as the sinister Mongol Khan is riveting even today.

Where Fairbanks excels is the physically demanding elements of his role.  He runs, jumps, swings, and swashbuckles his way through enormous sets.  It's good enough to inspire me to add his version of Robin Hood to our queue.

All in all, this film is a spectacle.  Fairbanks, gigantic detailed sets, fantastical creatures and effects, and chaste romance combine to make this a very entertaining film.  It's a bit on the long side, but I'd recommend it to fans of swashbucklers and film history.