The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Directors:

Ludwig Berger
Michael Powell

Writers:

Miles Malleson (screenplay)
Lajos Biró (scenario)

Release Date:

25 December 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

One Thousand and One Sights from One Thousand and One Nights

Plot:

Prince Ahmad is the rightful King of Bagdad but he has been blinded and cast out as a beggar. Now a...

Plot Keywords:

Flying | Flying Carpet | Dungeon | Princess | Thief

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

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

Also Known As:

The Thief of Bagdad: An Arabian Fantasy in Technicolor (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved (certificate #02749) | West Germany:6 | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Norway:A | Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:Btl | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

London Film Productions

Trivia:

The first assigned director, Ludwig Berger, wanted his old friend, the 80-year-old Austrian operetta composer Oscar Straus, to compose the score. Miklos Rozsa only won the assignment by sitting in an office adjoining Berger's and playing his catchy melodies over and over again. The Viennese waltzes that Straus had supplied were quickly dropped in favor of Rozsa's sweeping and colorful score.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The Sultan of Basra's palace has many decorations in the form of Hindu iconography, which would be found in India, but not in the ancient Middle East. (It was considered "Oriental" enough to pass by a 1940s audience, but stands out for a modern audience.)

Quotes:

Jafar: Why do you close your eyes? There's little time left to see him.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Uncensored (1987)

Soundtrack:

I Want To Be A Sailor

Probably the best "Arabian Nights" film ever made.

Most of the genre of "Arabian Nights" films were silly, cheesy, low-budget things, like "The Prince Who Was A Thief" starring Tony Curtis as an Arabian prince with a Brooklyn accent. This is an exception: A genuinely magical film, one of the best fantasy films ever made.

A beautiful film made in the most glowing of technicolors, it tells the simple story of a boy thief (Sabu) meeting a dethroned prince (the gorgeous John Justin), and helping him defeat the wonderfully evil usurper Conrad Veidt. Like "The Wizard of Oz" made the year before, the performances are so good that you believe in what you see on the screen. Flying carpets and horses, towering genies, dancing idols, it all seems perfectly believable and exiting. A classic.