The Thief of Bagdad (1940) - film review

Anxious to find out how his subjects live, Ahmad, the rightful King of Bagdad, explores the city disguised as a poor man, allowing his Grand Vizier, Jaffar, to usurp his position.  Arrested by Jaffar, Ahmad soon finds himself in a prison cell with a street urchin named Abu, with whom he strikes up an immediate rapport.  The two friends manage to escape to Basra, where Ahmad meets and falls in love with the beautiful daughter of the town’s Sultan.  As luck would have it, Jaffar also has his eyes on the same woman, and buys her from her father in exchange for a mechanical flying horse.  Again, Ahmad is captured by the evil Jaffar, who punishes him by taking away his sight and transforming Abu into a dog.  Jaffar will only restore Ahmad and his friend to their former selves once he has won the Sultan’s daughter.  Unfortunately, she has realised the fate that awaits her and has taken flight...

Quite possibly the greatest fantasy film ever made, this inspired take on The Arabian Nights still evokes a sense of wonder and delight in the spectator and is simply a piece of pure cinematic magic.  It is a film that evokes perfectly the exotic and mystical world of Scheherazade and Aladdin, a world of genies, villainous sorcerers, alluring princesses and flying carpets.  If you want to be transported instantly to another world, you have only to sit down and watch this film.  It will amuse and beguile you like no other piece of cinema.

Of course, this is not the only adaptation of The Arabian Nights stories to have graced our cinema screens.  Douglas Fairbanks starred in a silent 1924 version of the same title, and there have been many others since.  However, this is by far the most memorable, and for all the right reasons.  In every department, the film excels, but it is particularly impressive in its design, cinematography and special effects, all three of which won Oscars in 1941.   Even by today’s standards, the effects hold up pretty well and any imperfections add to rather than diminish the film’s charm.  

No fewer than six men had a hand in directing this film during its troubled two year long production.  German director Ludwig Berger was originally assigned to direct the film but producer Alexander Korda was unsatisfied with his work and hired Michael Powell as a replacement.  At the time, Powell was one of Britain’s most promising young filmmakers and would later achieve great things through his association with Hungarian screenwriter Emeric Pressburger.  He is responsible for some of the film’s most memorable scenes, including the now legendary one in which a genie emerges from a bottle.  The spectacular action sequences were directed by Tim Whelan.  At the outbreak of WWII, work on the film was suspended and the production team moved from England to California.  The remaining scenes were shot in America under the direction of Zoltan Korda and William Cameron Menzies.

To complement its stunning visuals, the film offers some creditable performances.   In his most memorable screen role, Conrad Veidt clearly relishes his part as the utterly wicked Jaffar; his performance has something of the presence and sinister menace of his earlier portrayal of the monster in Robert Wiene’s Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920).   Whilst Veidt was often cast as the good guy (even in British war time propaganda films), he looks far more at ease when playing the villain.  Sabu and John Justin are engaging as the film’s sympathetic heroes, but you are probably more likely to remember Rex Ingram’s gloriously over the top turn as a mountain-sized genie with a mountain-sized temperament to match.  Skilfully punctuating the film’s moments of adventure, comedy and romance is a richly textured score from Miklós Rózsa, which adds to the film’s poetry and cohesion.  The Thief of Bagdad is much more than a film.  It is a taste of paradise.

© James Travers 2008

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