Verdict
Summary
The film has obvious shortcomings, but it’s still incredible with its massive sets and huge crowd scenes, evoking a time and place that likely never existed in the way it’s presented here, but still manages to feel like it’s straight from a fairy tale or a dream. For a film over a hundred years old to still be this entertaining is quite an accomplishment. Raoul Walsh directed.
Plot:
A street urchin goes to great lengths to woo a princess.
Review:
Bagdad: A city teeming with life, but a great divide separates the wealthy that dwell within the sultan’s palace and the street filth that struggle to survive outside the gates. One such “street filth,” is a Thief (Douglas Fairbanks in incredible shape in his forties) who thrives not on alms, but on clever thievery, which sees him pilfering jewels and coins from the wealthier men who come and go through the gates, and when he finds himself within the walls of the palace, he lays his lusty eyes on the sultan’s daughter, the princess (Julanne Johnston), who is of the marrying age. Instantly smitten, the Thief devises a desperate plan to woo her, but the only way he can is to pretend to be a prince in the only way he knows how: To steal some donkeys and raiment and pose as a suitor, which is good timing because all the princes of the realm have congregated at the same time to woo her. One such suitor is a Mongol raider (Sojin Kamiyama), who vows to wed the princess even against her will simply to have the position to overthrow the sultan when the time is right. What the Mongol isn’t counting on (in fact, nobody sees it coming) is that the Thief is dead set against all odds to woo the girl with his charm and cunning. In order to attain the greatest gift of all, the Thief snatches a magic carpet, flies to a “cavern of enchanted trees,” ends up with a priceless jewel, and hops on a winged horse, which whisks him back to Bagdad, where he wins the princess and leaves the Mongol prince high and dry.
Overlong at nearly two-and-a-half hours, but sumptuously filmed on jaw-dropping sets, the original The Thief of Bagdad is an early cinematic wonder, featuring some very impressive production design and an engaging lead star in Fairbanks, who dashes around and won hearts with his appealing portrayal of a nameless thief who wins everything. The film has obvious shortcomings, but it’s still incredible with its massive sets and huge crowd scenes, evoking a time and place that likely never existed in the way it’s presented here, but still manages to feel like it’s straight from a fairy tale or a dream. For a film over a hundred years old to still be this entertaining is quite an accomplishment. Raoul Walsh directed.
Kino Lorber brings The Thief of Bagdad to Blu-ray in a new 4K restoration. Special features include an audio commentary, an introduction by Orson Welles, outtakes, the original 1924 score, a six-minute overture, and more.
