Editing The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film)

{{short description|1924 film by Raoul Walsh}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Thief of Bagdad
| image          = The Thief of Bagdad (1924) - film poster.jpg
| producer       = Douglas Fairbanks
| director       = [[Raoul Walsh]]
| screenplay     = [[Achmed Abdullah]]<br />[[Lotta Woods]]<br />[[James T. O'Donohoe]] (uncredited)
| story          = [[Douglas Fairbanks]]
| starring       = Douglas Fairbanks<br />[[Snitz Edwards]]<br />[[Charles Belcher (actor)|Charles Belcher]]<br />[[Julanne Johnston]]<br />[[Anna May Wong]]
| music          = [[Mortimer Wilson]]
| cinematography = [[Arthur Edeson]]
| editing        = [[Bill Nolan (animator)|William Nolan]]
| studio         = Douglas Fairbanks Pictures
| distributor    = [[United Artists]]
| released       = {{film date|1924|3|18}}
| runtime        = 140&nbsp;minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = [[Silent film|Silent]] (English [[intertitle]]s)
| budget         = $1,135,654.65
| gross          = $3 million (U.S. and Canada rentals)<ref name=variety1990>{{cite magazine| date=October 15, 1990| title=All Time Film Rental Champs| magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]| issn=0042-2738| page=M-194| first=Lawrence| last=Cohn}}</ref>

}}
[[File:The Thief of Bagdad (1924).webm|thumb|thumbtime=3|right|''The Thief of Bagdad'']]
'''''The Thief of Bagdad''''' is a 1924 American silent [[adventure film]] directed by [[Raoul Walsh]] and starring [[Douglas Fairbanks]], and written by [[Achmed Abdullah]] and [[Lotta Woods]]. Freely adapted from ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'', it tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the [[Caliph]] of Baghdad. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/T/ThiefOfBagdad1924.html ''The Thief of Bagdad'' at silentera.com database]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|website=Library of Congress|access-date=May 13, 2020}}</ref>

Fairbanks considered this to be the favorite of his films, according to his son.<ref>Vance, Jeffrey (2008). ''Douglas Fairbanks''. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, p. 181 {{ISBN|978-0-520-25667-5}}.</ref> The imaginative gymnastics suited the athletic star, whose "catlike, seemingly effortless" movements were as much dance as gymnastics.<ref>Whitford 2007, p. 160.</ref> Along with his earlier ''[[The Mark of Zorro (1920 film)|The Mark of Zorro]]'' (1920) and ''[[Robin Hood (1922 film)|Robin Hood]]'' (1922), the film marked Fairbanks's transformation from genial comedy to a career in "swashbuckling" roles.<ref name="Finler p. 16."/> The film, strong on special effects ([[Magic carpet|flying carpet]], [[Indian rope trick|magic rope]] and fearsome monsters) and featuring massive Arabian-style sets, also proved to be a stepping stone for [[Anna May Wong]], who portrayed a treacherous Mongol slave.

''The Thief of Bagdad'' is now widely considered one of the great silent films and Fairbanks's greatest work. Fairbanks biographer [[Jeffrey Vance]] writes, "An epic romantic fantasy-adventure inspired by several of the [[One Thousand and One Nights|Arabian Nights]] tales, ''The Thief of Bagdad'' is the greatest artistic triumph of Fairbanks's career. The superb visual design, spectacle, imaginative splendor, and visual effects, along with his bravura performance (leading a cast of literally thousands), all contribute to making this his masterpiece."<ref>Vance, Jeffrey (2008). ''Douglas Fairbanks''. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press,  p. 153 {{ISBN|978-0-520-25667-5}}.</ref>

The film was remade several times; the [[The Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)|1940 Technicolor version]] split the main character into two: a deposed prince and a thief, the latter played by [[Sabu (actor)|Sabu]].

==Plot==
[[File:Дуглас Фэрбэнкс в картине Багдадский вор.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Soviet Russian film poster of ''The Thief of Bagdad'']]
Ahmed steals as he pleases in the city of Bagdad. Wandering into a [[mosque]], he tells a holy man he disdains his philosophy: "What I want, I take."

That night, he sneaks into the caliph's palace using a magic rope he stole during [[Salat|ritual prayers]]. All thoughts of plunder are forgotten when he sees the sleeping princess, the caliph's daughter. The princess's Mongol slave alerts the guards, but he gets away.

When his associate Abu reminds the disconsolate Ahmed that a bygone thief once stole another princess during the reign of [[Haroun al-Rashid]], Ahmed sets out to do the same. The next day is the princess's birthday. Three princes arrive, seeking her hand in marriage (and the future inheritance of the city). Another of the princess's slaves foretells that she will marry the man who first touches a rose-tree in her garden. The princess watches anxiously as first the glowering Prince of the Indies, then the obese Prince of Persia and finally the Prince of the Mongols pass by the rose-tree. The sight of the Mongol fills the princess with fear, but when Ahmed appears (disguised in stolen garments as a suitor), she is delighted. The Mongol slave tells her countryman of the prophecy, but before he can touch the rose-tree, Ahmed's startled horse tosses its rider into it.

That night, the princess chooses Ahmed for her husband. Out of love, Ahmed gives up his plan to abduct her and confesses all to her in private. The Mongol prince learns from his spy, the princess's Mongol slave, that Ahmed is a common thief and informs the caliph. Ahmed is lashed mercilessly, and the caliph orders he be torn apart by a giant ape, but the princess has the guards bribed to let him go.

When the caliph insists she select another husband, her loyal slave advises her to delay. She asks that the princes each bring her a gift after "seven moons"; she will marry the one who brings her the rarest. In despair, Ahmed turns to the holy man. He tells the thief to become a prince, revealing to him the peril-fraught path to a great treasure.

The Prince of the Indies obtains a magic [[crystal ball]] from the eye of a giant idol, which shows whatever he wants to see, while the Persian prince buys a [[magic carpet|flying carpet]]. The Mongol prince leaves behind his henchman, telling him to organize the soldiers he will send to Bagdad disguised as porters. (The potentate has sought all along to take the city; the beautiful princess is only an added incentive.) After he obtains a magic [[golden apple]] which has the power to [[panacea (medicine)|cure anything]], even death, he sends word to the Mongol slave to poison the princess. After many adventures, Ahmed gains a [[cloak of invisibility]] and a small chest of magic powder which turns into whatever he wishes when he sprinkles it. He races back to the city.

The three princes meet as agreed at a [[caravanserai]] before returning to Bagdad. The Mongol asks the Indian to check whether the princess has waited for them. They discover that she is near death, and ride the flying carpet to reach her. Then the Mongol uses the apple to cure her. The suitors argue over which gift is rarest, but the princess points out that without any one gift, the remaining two would have been useless in saving her. Her loyal slave shows her Ahmed in the crystal ball, so the princess convinces her father to deliberate carefully on his future son-in-law. The Mongol prince chooses not to wait, unleashing his secret army that night and capturing Bagdad.

Ahmed arrives at the city gate, shut and defended by Mongols. When he conjures up a large army with his powder, the Mongol soldiers flee. The Mongol prince is about to have one of his soldiers kill him when the Mongol slave suggests he escape with the princess on the flying carpet. Ahmed liberates the city and rescues the princess, using his cloak of invisibility to get through the Mongols guards and capturing their prince. In gratitude, the caliph gives his daughter to him in marriage.

==Cast==
* [[Douglas Fairbanks]] as Ahmed, the Thief of Bagdad
* [[Snitz Edwards]] as His Evil Associate
* [[Charles Belcher (actor)|Charles Belcher]] as The Holy Man (Imam) / Narrator
* [[Julanne Johnston]] as The Princess. Johnston had appeared the previous year in another Arabian Nights fantasy, the now lost ''[[The Brass Bottle (1923 film)|The Brass Bottle]]'', directed by [[Maurice Tourneur]]
* [[Sojin Kamiyama]] as Cham Shang, Prince of the Mongols
* [[Anna May Wong]] as The Mongol Slave
* [[Brandon Hurst]] as The Caliph
* [[Tote Du Crow]] as The Soothsayer
* [[Noble Johnson]] as The Prince of the Indies
* [[Mathilde Comont]] as The Prince of Persia (uncredited)
* [[Sam Baker (actor)|Sam Baker]] as The Sworder<ref>{{cite book |last1=Soister |first1=John T. |last2=Nicolella |first2=Henry |last3=Joyce |first3=Steve |title=American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913–1929 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajXwxJuYd5gC&pg=PA559 |publisher=[[McFarland Publishing]] |year=2013 |page=559 |isbn=978-0786487905}}</ref>
* [[Sadakichi Hartmann]] as The Court Magician<ref>[http://www.tcm.turner.com/tcmdb/person/1014280%7C137467/Sadakichi-Hartmann/filmography.html TCM Sadakichi Hartmann filmography]</ref> (uncredited)
* [[Laska Winter]] as Slave of the Lute (uncredited)

The eccentric Second World War soldier [[Jack Churchill]] had an uncredited part,<ref>{{cite book|last=Meredith|first=Anthony|title=The Pilot and the Commando: The interlinked lives of two young Christians in the Second World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CLM8mqMdGeQC&pg=PA47|year= 2011|publisher=Author House|isbn=978-1467877626|page=47}}</ref> as did blues musician [[Jesse Fuller]].<ref>{{IMDb name|id=0298261|name=Jesse Fuller}}</ref>

==Production==
[[File:California - Hollywood - NARA - 23934377.jpg|thumb|Aerial photo of the set]]
Fairbanks sought to make an epic.<ref name="Finler p. 16.">Finler 1975, p. 16.</ref> Lavishly staged on a Hollywood studio set, at a reputed cost of $1,135,654.65,<ref>Vance 2008, p. 153.</ref> ''The Thief of Bagdad'' was one of the most expensive films of the 1920s. Art director [[William Cameron Menzies]] was largely responsible for the production design, closely following the requirements laid down by Fairbanks, who acted as writer, producer and star. Fairbanks' meticulous attention to detail,<ref>Whitford 2007, p. 216.</ref> as well as complex visual imagery, required the use of state-of-the-art special effects, featuring a magic rope, a flying horse, a flying carpet and full-scale palace sets.<ref name="Finler p. 16."/>

==Music==
Douglas Fairbanks encouraged the respected composer [[Mortimer Wilson]] to provide a fully-fledged classical score. Wilson composed leit-motifs for each character and developed them symphonically. He also spent many hours in the editing room working on combining his music with the film. The score has been re-constructed by Mark Fitz-Gerald and recorded.<ref>Mortimer Wilson: [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2022/May/Wilson-thief-FHR126.htm ''The Thief of Bagdad, Op. 74''], First Hand Records FHR126 (2022) reviewed at ''MusicWeb International''</ref> A 1924 Literary Digest article details Wilson's work on the film (and includes a photo of the composer).<ref>"A Higher Order of Music for the Movies", in ''Literary Digest'', 19 July 1924, p. 26-27.</ref> Wilson also wrote the music for Fairbanks's next two films, ''[[Don Q, Son of Zorro]]'' (1925) and ''[[The Black Pirate]]'' (1926).

==Reception==
[[Glenn Erickson]] praised the film, writing:
<blockquote>
Every age has its wonder entertainments, and 1924's The Thief of Bagdad transported audiences to a new level of imaginative fantasy. It had the biggest star of the era in a production that dwarfed anything anyone had ever seen ... It has sets bigger than those in Intolerance and costumed crowd scenes to rival the enormous Italian spectacles of the day. What's more, the picture is packed with elaborate special effects, many of which still have the power to impress. ... Some critics prefer Douglas Fairbanks' earlier modern-day adventures to his twenties' costume epics, but this dazzler still takes people's heads off. Simply put, the production's overall design and execution -- sets, costumes, lighting, special effects -- are coordinated so tightly that the illusion of grandeur is complete.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4109bagd.html |title=The Thief of Bagdad |first=Glenn |last=Erickson |publisher=[[DVD Talk]]}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Darragh O'Donoghue is of the opinion that:
<blockquote>
"The first reel provides some of the purest joy the silent cinema can offer. ... Where initially there had been a satisfying equivalence between the discrete adventures of Ahmed as a psychologically plausible thief in medieval Mesopotamia and Ahmed as a universal Everyman figure, in the film's latter two-thirds, the former distinctive superstructure gives way to a kind of Pilgrim’s Progress in Orientalist drag. ... Adventure sequences are staged like fairground tableaux and have none of the interest in physical process or emotional investment that made the early reels so exciting. ... After promising a dream, this great but flawed film eventually sends its audience to sleep.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2017/cteq/the-thief-of-bagdad/ |title=The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924) |first=Darragh |last=O'Donoghue |magazine=[[Senses of Cinema]] |date=September 2017}}</ref>
</blockquote>

The film along with ''[[The Sheik (film)|The Sheik]]'' (1921) was adapted into a broadway by [[Dardanella]] which was performed on October 12, 1928, in [[Surabaya]], and starred Indonesian actor [[Tan Tjeng Bok]] which later earned him the nickname "Douglas Fairbanks of Java".{{Sfn|Erkelens|2022|p=53}} Future American dancer, [[Devi Dja]], also appeared in the broadway by working behind the stage.{{Sfn|Erkelens|2022|p=53}}

==Honors==
In June 2008, the [[American Film Institute]] revealed its ''[[AFI's 10 Top 10|10 Top 10]]'', the 10 best films in 10 "classic" American film genres. After polling over 1,500 people from the creative community, ''The Thief of Bagdad'' was acknowledged as the ninth best film in the fantasy genre.<ref>[http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 "AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619034738/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 |date=June 19, 2008 }} ''[[American Film Institute]]'' via  ''ComingSoon.net''. Retrieved: June 18, 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.afi.com/10top10/fantasy.html "Top 10 Fantasy."] ''[[American Film Institute]]''. Retrieved: June 18, 2008.</ref>

==Preservation status==
The [[George Eastman Museum]] has a 16mm triacetate positive print.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections.eastman.org/objects/504101/the-thief-of-bagdad?ctx=383f05b1-50a4-4dd0-a13e-0869f4c802c9&idx=0 |title=The Thief of Bagdad |publisher=George Eastman Museum}}</ref>

==Remakes==
The [[The Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)|1940 film of the same name]] made the title character, played by [[Sabu Dastagir|Sabu]], a sidekick for a handsome prince rather than the leading man. Indian actor [[M. G. Ramachandran]] assumed the role of Ali, the thief of Baghdad in the 1960 film ''[[Baghdad Thirudan]]''. The 1924 film was directly remade in Europe in 1961 as ''[[Il Ladro di Bagdad]]'', with [[Steve Reeves]] in the lead, while a 1978 made-for-television film combined plot elements of these with others from the Sabu version.

A number of Indian films, were made under the titles of: ''Baghdad Ka Chor'' (''The Thief of Baghdad'') in 1934, [[Baghdad Ka Chor|1946]], 1955; ''[[Baghdad Gaja Donga]]'' (''Thief of Baghdad'') in 1968; and ''Thief of Baghdad'' in 1969 and 1977.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999">{{cite book|last1=Rajadhyaksha|first1=Ashish|last2=Willemen|first2=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R0EOAQAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=British Film Institute|isbn=9781579581466 }}</ref> A television series, [[Thief of Baghdad (TV series)|''Thief of Baghdad'']], was also made in India which aired on [[Zee TV]] between 2000 and 2001.

==Home media==
''The Thief of Bagdad'' is in the [[public domain]] and many cheap, unrestored black-and-white copies have been issued on VHS and DVD. A restored version first appeared on US DVD in 1998, distributed by Image Entertainment. It featured original color [[film tinting|tinting]] and a musical accompaniment arranged from the original 1924 music [[Cue (theatrical)#Cue sheet|cue sheets]] and performed in 1975 by [[Gaylord Carter]] on a [[Wurlitzer]] [[Theatre organ|theater pipe organ]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.silentera.com/video/thiefOfBagdadHV.html|title=Silent Era: The Thief of Bagdad|website=www.silentera.com}}</ref> [[Kino International (company)|Kino International]] reissued the DVD in 2004, this time with a longer, improved print and chamber ensemble score. The film has also been released on Blu-ray by the [[Cohen Film Collection]] (US) in 2013<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cohenfilmcollection.net/films/the-thief-of-bagdad |title=The Thief of Bagdad / 1924 |website=cohenfilmcollection.net |access-date=February 3, 2015 |archive-date=October 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019133242/http://www.cohenfilmcollection.net/films/the-thief-of-bagdad |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Eureka! Entertainment (UK) in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/thief-bagdad |title=The Thief of Bagdad |website=eurekavideo.co.uk |access-date=February 3, 2015 |archive-date=December 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228124420/https://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/thief-bagdad |url-status=dead }}</ref> That version features a [[Carl Davis]] orchestral score and an [[audio commentary]] by Fairbanks biographer [[Jeffrey Vance]].

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Film|United States|1920s}}
* [[:Category:Silent films]]
* [[:Category:Silent film actors]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
* Finler, Joel W. (1975). ''All Time Movie Greats''. London: Cathay Books. {{ISBN|0-904644-25-1}}.
* Vance, Jeffrey (2008). ''Douglas Fairbanks''. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-25667-5}}.
* Whitford, Eileen (2007). ''Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood''. Lexington-Fayette, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. {{ISBN|978-0-8131-9179-9}}.
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* Eagan, Daniel (2010) [https://books.google.com/books/about/America_s_Film_Legacy.html?id=deq3xI8OmCkC] America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 88–89
* Goessel, Tracey. ''The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks''. Chicago Review Press (October 1, 2015) {{ISBN|1613734042}}
* {{Cite book |last=Erkelens |first=Jaap |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qlt3zwEACAAJ |title=Dardanella, perintis teater Indonesia modern: duta kesenian Indonesia melanglang buana |date=2022 |publisher=Penerbit Buku Kompas |isbn=978-623-346-197-9 |language=id}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film)}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{YouTube|UTXZSVIIk-c|The Thief of Bagdad (1924)}}
* ''The Thief of Bagdad'' essay [https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/thief_of_bagdad.pdf] by [[Joe Morgenstern]] at [[National Film Registry]]
* {{AFI film|12631|The Thief of Bagdad}}
* {{IMDb title|0015400|The Thief of Bagdad}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-thief-of-bagdad-am21669 ''The Thief of Bagdad'' at AllMovie]
* {{Internet Archive film|id=sonido-ttob-1080p|name=The Thief of Bagdad}}
* {{TCMDb title|5878}}
* ''[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1028714-thief_of_bagdad/ The Thief of Bagdad]'' at [[Rotten Tomatoes]]
* [http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/film/2946/the-thief-of-bagdad ''The Thief of Bagdad''] at Virtual History

{{Raoul Walsh}}
{{One Thousand and One Nights}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thief of Bagdad (1924 film), The}}
[[Category:1924 films]]
[[Category:1920s fantasy adventure films]]
[[Category:American fantasy adventure films]]
[[Category:American silent feature films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American epic films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Raoul Walsh]]
[[Category:Films set in Baghdad]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:Films based on The Thief of Bagdad]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Surviving American silent films]]
[[Category:1920s American films]]
[[Category:Fictional caliphs]]
[[Category:Silent American adventure films]]
[[Category:Films set in palaces]]
[[Category:Films about princesses]]
[[Category:Films about birthdays]]
[[Category:Films scored by Mortimer Wilson]]
[[Category:Whitewashing in film]]