Alphabetical Movie Listings: The Thief of Bagdad (England, 1940)


Figure 1.--'The Thief of Bagdad' won an Academy Award for Special Effects. Sabu plays the thief Abu. The costuming seems more appropriate for Sabu's Indian movies than for Baghdad. While the movie was shot in color, the promotional images were almost all done in black and white.

'The Thief of Baghdad' was a an early British technicolor movie. It was a remake of a 1924 silent film, although there were many changes in the plot. The film is loosely based on the what is known in the West as the 'The Book of One Thousand and One Nights' or sometimes 'Arabian Nights'. These are collection of oriental tales in the Arabic language. This was the beginning of what came to be called Orientalism in Western art and literature. Westerners were iuntreagued by the exotic depictions of the Middle East. Many of the stories have their foundation in Arab folk tales enriched by Persian and Indian tales. Most are set in the Caliphate and are of Arab origins. As the Caliphate at times included non-Aran areas such as Persia and influenced Muslim areas of northern India. The first English-language version was The Arabian Nights (1706). This and subsequent versions became a vehicle for Western imaginative with Middle Eastern setting. The 1940 film was produced by Alexander Korda, and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with contributions by Korda's brothers Vincent and Zoltán, and William Cameron Menzies. The film was produced by Alexander Korda's company London Films and filming began in England (1939). Filming began in England, but with the outbreak of World War II, the filming had to be completed in Hollywood. By the time the film was released, the Germans had launched the Blitz. It was a film vehicle for Sabu who usually made Indian themed movies. The plot like many of the Arabian Nights stories dealt with a just sultan being unseated by an evil vizar. Sultan Ahmad, referred to as a king, is tricked and cexpelled by the evil Jaffar. Ahmad joins forces with a good-hearted thief named Abu (Sabu) to reclaim his throne and the Princess he loves. It proved a box office success. Not only was it in color and had a great musiucal core, but there was also some innovative special effects. The film won the Academy Awards for Cinematography, Art Direction (Vincent Korda) and Special Effects. It was also nominated for Original Music Score.







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Created: 2:11 AM 8/22/2012
Last updated: 2:11 AM 8/22/2012