The Thief of Bagdad ***** (1924, Douglas Fairbanks Sr, Julanne Johnston, Snitz Edwards) – Classic Movie Review 1791

Writer-producer-star Douglas Fairbanks Sr took several of the 1001 Nights tales as his starting point to fashion the story of this classic 1924 silent movie as a showy vehicle for himself.

He plays the clever Thief of Bagdad, who has to use all his powers of wit and magic to win the hand of the beautiful Princess (Julanne Johnston), the daughter of the Caliph of Bagdad (Brandon Hurst). The Thief sets off on a magical journey to perform various feats of derring-do to fulfil the Caliph’s challenge of bringing back the rarest treasure after seven moons.

But, alas for The Thief, he is vying with another suitor, the duplicitous Mongol Prince (Sôjin Kamiyama), who is up to some dirty tricks. Snitz Edwards also appears as The Thief’s Evil Associate, with Anna May Wong as The Mongol Slave and Charles Belcher as The Holy Man.

Director Raoul Walsh and art director William Cameron Menzies create the magical experience of a gorgeous fairy tale Bagdad and the vintage special effects, including various monsters and a magic flying carpet, still look surprisingly good.

One of the high points of silent cinema, The Thief of Bagdad remains a spellbinding experience, thanks to Fairbanks Sr and the beautiful Technicolor sequences, filmed by cinematographer Arthur Edeson.

Fairbanks Sr (credited as Elton Thomas) provides the story, Lotta Woods is the scenario editor, Achmed Abdullah is uncredited screenwriter and James T. O’Donohoe is responsible for the adaptation (uncredited).

Remade in 1940 with Conrad Veidt, Sabu, John Justin and June Duprez, and again in 1960 with muscleman Steve Reeves, and in 1978 with Roddy McDowall, Peter Ustinov and Terence Stamp.

Fairbanks Sr stood on a 3/4-inch thick sheet of steel attached to 16 piano wires and rigged to the top of a crane, which lifted him above the crowd for the flying carpet effect. For another effect, he had small trampolines placed inside each of the giant clay pots, allowing him to bounce from pot to pot.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1791

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