Original review at
TVGuide
TV Guide review
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
One of the best fantasy films ever made, with astounding special effects
and wonderful performances by Veidt, Sabu, Justin, and Duprez. A host of
directors worked on this marvelous and inventive Arabian Nights spectacle,
all under the meticulous eye of producer Korda. Every frame of The Thief
of Bagdad is magical and exciting. As the film begins, charming urchin
Sabu is thrown into a dungeon for stealing food from the marketplace of
Bagdad. The city is ruled by good-hearted prince Justin, but the grand vizier,
Veidt, is utterly evil. And behind Justin's back, Veidt oppresses the people.
In time, he simply overthrows Justin and places him in the dungeon with
Sabu. [Ahmad gets slung in jail first] However,
the inventive little thief works up a plan whereby they both he and the
prince escape and flee to the exotic city of Basra. There -- now wearing
rags, rather than his customary raiment -- Justin learns the art of thievery
from Sabu, though he is an unwilling pupil. In Basara, Justin becomes smitten
with the city's beautiful princess (Duprez). Against Sabu's cautions, Justin
scales the palace wall and enters the royal garden, where he climbs a tree.
When Duprez strolls through the garden, she sees Justin's face reflected
in a pool. Claiming to be a genie, Justin tells Duprez of his love for her
and she responds in kind, but the illusion is dispersed when guards appear,
forcing Justin to jump from the tree to escape. Later, Justin learns that
Veidt covets Duprez himself, and has been busy plying her senile father,
Malleson -- the king of Basra -- with magical toys, bargaining for the luscious
princess. The toy-obsessed old man has promised Duprez that he will not
yield to Veidt's importunities, but he changes his mind when the evil vizier
presents him with a mechanical winged horse that flies about the enormous
rooms of the palace and out over the city. "I must have it, I must have
it," drools Malleson, who agrees to give Veidt Duprez's hand in marriage.
Malleson then mounts the steed and -- cackling with delight -- rides into
the air and over the city. While Malleson is in mid-flight, the wicked Veidt
uses his magic to destroy the horse, dashing the senile king to his death.
When Justin and Sabu attempt to interfere with Veidt's plan to abduct Duprez,
the wicked vizier turns Sabu into a dog and makes Justin a blind beggar.
The prince is next seen begging in the streets of Basra with his "dog" at
his side. Discovering the fate that has befallen the man she loves, Duprez
promises to wed Veidt if he will revoke his curse. Justin and Sabu are returned
to their former forms, but the prince is in agony. "What good are my eyes
if I cannot see her?" he cries. Justin and Sabu learn that Veidt plans to
take Duprez back to Bagdad on his huge ship. Acquiring a small sailboat,
Justin and Sabu take up the pursuit, but the evil Veidt spots their approach
and causes an enormous storm to come from nowhere, engulfing the little
craft.
Following the storm, Sabu finds himself on a wide, sunny beach,
with Justin nowhere to be seen. There the boy discovers an ancient bottle
stuck in the sand. Out of the bottle shoots a huge plume of smoke that rises
hundreds of feet, then forms into a giant genie (Ingram), whose laughter
seems to shake the land on which he stands. Ingram explains that King Solomon
imprisoned him in that bottle 3,000 years ago. The genie looks down at Sabu,
prepared to crush the young thief, but the clever youth tricks him by challenging
Ingram to prove he's a real genie by going back into the bottle. That trick
accomplished, Sabu renews Ingram's captivity by replacing the cork in the
bottle. Only when Ingram agrees to grant Sabu three wishes does the thief
release the genie. Ingram then tricks the little trickster into using the
first of his wishes to request a frying pan full of sizzling sausages. "To
hear is to obey, little master of the universe," booms Ingram. As Sabu nibbles
at the sausages, he considers his options, then makes another wish: that
he might see his friend Justin. Ingram grants the wish by taking Sabu to
the All-Seeing Eye housed high in the Tibetan mountains. In a spectacular
sequence, Sabu is seen flying through the air over continents and oceans
while grasping Ingram's pigtail. Arriving at a huge monastery, the genie
deposits Sabu on the stairs leading into the cavernous place and tells him
he must obtain the All-Seeing Eye on his own. The genie pushes the thief
through the doors, and Sabu finds himself in an enormous hall, a giant Shiva-like
statue before him, at the peak of which radiates the coveted All-Seeing
Eye, a glowing gem. Sabu starts to climb the statue, which is guarded by
arrow-shooting little green men, and narrowly evades death during his incredible
ascent, imperiled also by an enormous spider. After managing to pluck the
eye from the idol's forehead, Sabu returns to the waiting Ingram, who--tricking
the lad into his third wish -- deposits Sabu on the side of a high cliff,
from which there appears to be no escape. Laughing so hard he almost causes
the canyon in which he stands to crumble, Ingram declares himself free of
his promised bondage and goes soaring away, howling hysterically.
Sabu
peers into the Eye and sees Justin, now a prisoner of the evil Veidt and
condemned to die, while Duprez is to wed the sinister vizier. Frustrated
about not being able to assist his friend, Sabu hurls the crystal to the
canyon floor. Its destruction shatters the canyon itself, which, collapsing,
propels the thief into a whirling void. Sabu finds himself in an outer world
beyond the planet, one peopled by all the wise old men of the East, all
waiting to travel to Paradise on a magic flying carpet. They are to protect
themselves during this impending journey with a golden bow and a golden
arrow that never misses its mark. Apologizing for his thievery to the wisest
of these sages, Sabu steps on the magic carpet, grabs the golden bow and
arrow, and orders the rug to take him to Bagdad. There, Veidt is about to
execute Justin, thereby ridding himself of the man to whom Duprez has given
her heart. But before the executioner can swing his axe, Sabu appears on
the magic carpet and sends a golden arrow into the headsman, saving Justin
at the last moment. The evil vizier--seeing that all is lost--mounts his
mechanical steed and attempts to flee by riding skyward, but Sabu shoots
another golden arrow, which finds its mark and kills him. Like Malleson
before him, Veidt crashes to earth, dead. Justin and Duprez are united,
and the prince regains his throne, promising the populace a fair and happy
reign and making Sabu his new grand vizier. The irascible youth wants no
part of politics, however, and is soon off on his stolen magic carpet seeking
new adventures.
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., made a spectacular silent version of The
Thief of Bagdad in 1924, but that film bears little real resemblance
to this Korda super-spectacular of 1940. (The two remakes that followed
are pale, cheap imitations.) Korda involved himself directly with this
production after discovering that his contracted director, Berger -- who
had made some important early talkies, including The Vagabond King
(1930) and the Dutch version of Pygmalion (1937) -- had gotten
bogged down and displayed no flair
whatsoever for fantasy and spectacle. The producer brought in Whelan and
Powell to oversee the action scenes. The shooting of the project ground
on for two years and WW II prevented Korda from using desired locations
in Egypt and Arabia. He later finished the film in Hollywood and had his
brother Zoltan and renowned designer Menzies direct the final scenes in
the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert.
Although six directors worked
on the picture, it all holds together wonderfully, with no apparent breaks
in the transitional scenes. The Thief of Bagdad retains a consistent
appearance
of grandeur, its pace flowing so evenly that it might well have been directed
by one man, and in essence it was--by Korda himself. The producer also employed
his immensely talented set-designing brother, Vincent, whose marvelous creations
are out of this world. Producer Korda also brought in composer Rozsa to
create the rich, romantic, dynamic score. Korda originally wanted Vivien
Leigh to play the much-put-upon princess, but she left for America to visit
her true love Laurence Olivier, then appearing in producer David O. Selznick's
Wuthering Heights. Once in the US, Leigh herself was "discovered"
by Selznick
and went into Gone With the Wind and history. Bereft of his chosen
leading
lady, Korda signed the sultry Duprez, a stunning beauty whose pretty face
was enhanced by the rich hues of the Technicolor process then in use. Jon
Hall was the producer's first choice for the part of the prince, but the
actor was unavailable, so Korda cast Justin in the role mostly because he
resembled Hall, and Korda thought Hall looked like a prince. He was right;
the soft-voiced Justin is perfect in the part. Korda's favorite actors,
Veidt and Sabu, are both splendid in their respective roles, and the rest
of the cast comprises enchanting character players such as the chinless,
blustering Malleson and the stentorian, towering Ingram. The film won Oscars
for art direction, color photography, and special effects. The Thief
of Bagdad remains to this day one of the most dazzling fantasies ever
created for the screen.
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