The Thief of Baghdad *** (1978, Roddy McDowall, Kabir Bedi, Peter Ustinov, Terence Stamp, Frank Finlay) – Classic Movie Review 7327

Director Clive Donner’s 1978 fourth movie version of The Thief of Baghdad is good looking and very acceptable, enlivened with some amusing performances, particularly from Peter Ustinov.

It is an amiable retelling of the classic tale about the thief Hasan (Roddy McDowall) helping handsome young Prince Taj (Kabir Bedi) to defeat the evil plans of the wicked wizard Wazir (Terence Stamp). The others stars include Ustinov as the jolly Caliph and his real-life daughter Pavla Ustinov as the hero’s love interest Princess Yasmine.

Donner directs the vivid tale with some dash and vigour, but it lacks the magic of the 1940 Michael Powell Eastern delight, The Thief of Bagdad.

It was made for TV but released in British cinemas, and on NBC on American TV.

Also in the cast are Frank Finlay as Abu Bakar, Marina Vlady as Perizadah, Ian Holm as The Gatekeeper, Neil McCarthy, Leon Greene and Daniel Emilfork as the Genie.

The Thief of Baghdad is directed by Clive Donner, runs 102 minutes, is made by Palm Films and Victorine Studios, released by Columbia-EMI-Warner (UK), is written by A J Carothers and Andrew Birkin, is shot by Denis Lewiston, is produced by Aida Young and is scored by John Cameron.

The three earlier versions are Douglas Fairbanks Sr’s 1924 silent movie classic The Thief of Bagdad, the 1940 Michael Powell Eastern delight The Thief of Bagdad and the 1960 The Thief of Baghdad with muscleman Steve Reeves.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7327

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