The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

After being tricked and cast out of Bagdad by the evil Jaffar, King Ahmad joins forces with a thief named Abu to reclaim his throne, the city, and the Princess he loves.

Directors:

Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell,

Writers:

Miles Malleson (screenplay), Lajos Biró (scenario)

Stars:

Conrad Veidt, Sabu, June Duprez

Won 3 Oscars. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Conrad Veidt	...	Jaffar
Sabu	...	Abu
June Duprez	...	Princess
John Justin	...	Ahmad
Rex Ingram	...	Djinn
Miles Malleson	...	Sultan
Morton Selten	...	The Old King
Mary Morris	...	Halima
Bruce Winston	...	The Merchant
Hay Petrie	...	Astrologer
Adelaide Hall	...	Singer
Roy Emerton	...	Jailer
Allan Jeayes	...	The Story Teller

Storyline

Prince Ahmad is the rightful King of Bagdad but he has been blinded and cast out as a beggar. Now a captive of the wicked Grand Vizier Jaffar he is cast into a dungeon where he meets Abu, the best thief in all Bagdad. Together they escape and set about a series of adventures that involve a Djinni in a bottle, a mechanical flying horse, an all-seeing magic jewel, a flying carpet and a beautiful princess.

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Plot Keywords:

princess | thief | king | flying | dungeon | 

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Taglines:

THE WONDER of the Enchanted Princess. Whoever looks upon her beauty dies---but Ahmad dares to win her favor! (original poster)

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le voleur de Bagdad

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first film of John Justin.

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Goofs

Almost all of the characters mispronounce "Allah". The first syllable rhymes with "dull" or "null", but in the film, most pronounce it as rhyming with "pal" or "gal."

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Quotes

Princess: You don't look wicked. Are you a good Djinni?
Ahmad: Not too good. Very good Djinni are just as tiresome as very good men.

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Connections

Referenced in Next Friday (2000)

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Soundtracks

"The Sea"
uncredited
Music by Miklós Rózsa
Lyrics by Unknown
Performed by Unknown

User Reviews

STUNNING DVD!

I first discovered Alexander Korda's (1940) Fantasy, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD in the early 1950's on a re-issue billed as "The Wonder Show of the Century!" Both Korda Technicolor films, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD and JUNGLE BOOK were shown on one never to be forgotten program. The music of Miklos Rozsa enhanced both films. The Technicolor in each was incredibly beautiful! THE THIEF OF BAGDAD has remained on my list as the best fantasy film ever made. As the years passed, it became more difficult to enjoy the film's color in the way it had originally been presented in. True Technicolor gave way to a Eastman Color process in the middle 1950's. Both Kino and Samuel Goldwyn reissued the film both theatrically and on video. But the Eastman Color prints were more pastel in nature and muted the vibrancy of the original Technicolor. The Laser Disc release of this title also has the pastel look to it -- nice, but not as it should be. NOW comes the M-G-M DVD (3 Dec 2002) issue. THE THIEF OF BAGDAD again has the wonderful Technicolor look to it on a DVD that is nothing short of STUNNING!!! It was so exciting to see it like this once again that after viewing the DVD once, I watched it a second time. The only "Extras" are a Spanish Dubbed version, Sub-Titles in both English & Spanish, and a beautifully done original theatrical trailer. Thank you M-G-M for this EXCEPTIONAL DVD release. Now, one can only hope that Korda's FOUR FEATHERS and a restored version of Korda's JUNGLE BOOK (to replace to poor public domain prints in circulation) will soon follow on DVD.