{"id":46264,"date":"2019-12-17T18:27:45","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T01:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=46264"},"modified":"2021-09-04T19:03:33","modified_gmt":"2021-09-05T02:03:33","slug":"thief-of-bagdad-1940","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=46264","title":{"rendered":"Thief of Bagdad, The (1940)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You&#8217;re a clever little man, little master of the universe &#8212; but mortals are weak and frail.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Poster-195x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"195\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-46266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Poster-195x300.jpg 195w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Poster-83x128.jpg 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Poster.jpg 650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen a kind-hearted prince (John Justin) is betrayed by his grand vizier (Conrad Veidt), he befriends a young thief (Sabu) who helps him survive on the streets of Bagdad. Justin quickly falls in love with the beautiful daughter (June Duprez) of a toy-obsessed sultan (Miles Malleson), provoking the ire of jealous Veidt, who wants her for himself. Will loyal Sabu &#8212; with the help of a giant genie (Rex Ingram) he rescues from a bottle &#8212; be able to help Justin reunite with Duprez?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Conrad Veidt Films<\/li>\n<li>Fantasy<\/li>\n<li>Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, and Mythology<\/li>\n<li>June Duprez Films<\/li>\n<li>Magicians<\/li>\n<li>Michael Powell Films<\/li>\n<li>Rex Ingram Films<\/li>\n<li>Sabu Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that &#8220;spectacular special effects and colorful, imaginative sets highlight this wondrous <em>Arabian Nights<\/em> tale, one of the cinema&#8217;s most popular fantasy films.&#8221; He notes that &#8220;Alexander Korda&#8217;s endlessly inventive production&#8221; &#8212; a &#8220;very loose remake of the <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25104\">1924 Douglas Fairbanks silent classic<\/a>&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;includes most everything a young fantasy fan desires: a handsome prince&#8230;, a beautiful princess&#8230;, a clever and incorrigible teenager&#8230;, a diabolical dressed-in-black villain&#8230;, a flying carpet, a giant genie (marvelously and menacingly played by Rex Ingram) in a tiny bottle, an enormous spider, a dog who was originally a boy, a flower that causes amnesia, a toy horse that can fly, fantasy lands, action and adventure.&#8221; He writes that while &#8220;halfway through the picture Justin and Duprez kind of fade out&#8221;, this is &#8220;okay because this lets Sabu and Veidt dominate the screen&#8221; as &#8220;terrific adversaries&#8221;. He argues that the &#8220;film is initially slow and a bit complicated&#8221; (I disagree), but that &#8220;the pace really picks up once Sabu meets Ingram&#8217;s scary Djinni&#8221; &#8212; and he points out it&#8217;s &#8220;unusual watching a long sequence (the best in the film) in a British production that features characters played by a dark-skinned Indian boy and an American black man.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Peary doesn&#8217;t spend much time in his <em>GFTFF<\/em> discussing the film&#8217;s production design or history, but he goes into much greater detail in <em>Cult Movies 3<\/em>, where he expresses admiration that this film (helmed by no less than six directors) was completed at all, given Britain&#8217;s emergent involvement in WWII. But he also complains more about its weak points, writing, &#8220;I assume the critics who were so generous to the film judged it mostly on its appeal to kids. You can forgive its flaws, but it&#8217;s impossible to deny their existence.&#8221; I don&#8217;t really feel the same way. Sure, the special effects are at times clunky compared to modern-day CGI, but this is to be expected &#8212; and the overall magical feel surpasses any visual glitches. Regarding the film&#8217;s narrative structure &#8212; Peary argues it &#8220;opens clumsily&#8221; and &#8220;barely recovers from this awkward beginning&#8221; &#8212; I think it serves the nature of this material well: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights\"><em>One Thousand and One Nights<\/em><\/a> was infamously told as a series of interwoven tales that wouldn&#8217;t necessarily proceed in linear fashion. Ultimately, though, it&#8217;s the special effects sequences from this movie which linger in one&#8217;s memory: Ingram rising as a swirl of gray smoke from his bottle (what a clever initial trick Sabu plays on him!); Malleson attempting to embrace a many-armed &#8220;Silver Maid&#8221; statue; Sabu fearlessly doing battle with a giant spider; Sabu flying to the rescue on a magic carpet&#8230; This is a tale for the ages, and most certainly must-see viewing at least once for all film fanatics. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sabu as Abu<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Sabu.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Sabu-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Sabu-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Sabu-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Sabu-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Sabu-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Sabu-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Sabu-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Conrad Veidt as Jaffar<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt2-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt2-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt2-768x430.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt2-1536x860.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt2.png 1719w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Rex Ingram as the Genie<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Ingram.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Ingram-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Ingram-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Ingram-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Ingram-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Ingram-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Ingram-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Ingram-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fabulous set designs and art direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdhad-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdhad-Still-1024x630.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"394\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdhad-Still-1024x630.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdhad-Still-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdhad-Still-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdhad-Still-768x473.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdhad-Still-1536x945.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdhad-Still.png 1549w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set3-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set3-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set3-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set3-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set3-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set3-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set3-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Georges Perinal&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Veidt-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lawrence Butler and Jack Whitney&#8217;s special effects<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-8.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-8-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-8-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-8-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-8-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-8-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-8-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-8-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-9.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-9-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-9-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-9-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-9-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-9-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-9-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Still-9-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set4-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set4-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set4-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set4-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set4-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set4-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Thief-of-Bagdad-Set4-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Miklos Rozsa&#8217;s score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a still-enjoyable classic. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#classic\">Genuine Classic<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0033152\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/498726\/the-thief-of-bagdad#articles-reviews?articleId=102776\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1940\/12\/06\/archives\/article-3-no-title-the-thief-of-bagdad-a-delightful-fairy-tale-at.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/fantasy\/thief-of-bagdad-1940.htm\">Moria Review <\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/the-thief-of-bagdad\/review\/126639\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/review\/2007\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2585thief.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=1968&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re a clever little man, little master of the universe &#8212; but mortals are weak and frail.&#8221; Synopsis: When a kind-hearted prince (John Justin) is betrayed by his grand vizier (Conrad Veidt), he befriends a young thief (Sabu) who helps him survive on the streets of Bagdad. Justin quickly falls in love with the beautiful daughter (June Duprez) of a toy-obsessed sultan (Miles Malleson), provoking the ire of jealous Veidt, who wants her for himself. Will loyal Sabu &#8212; with&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=46264\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46264"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75767,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46264\/revisions\/75767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}