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★★★★☆In the early 1920s, Douglas Fairbanks was transformed from comedy star into swash-buckling heartthrob via The Mark of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921) and Robin Hood (1922). Arguably one of the high-notes amongst his sensational ripping yarns is 1924's The Thief of Bagdad, a reworking of the Arabian Nights that gave ample opportunity for his charisma to burst from the screen. His performance is complemented by lavish production design and unparalleled special effects in what was one of the decade's most expensive features. Now released on a terrific blu-ray transfer as part of the Masters of Cinema collection, this silent fantasy epic is well worth revisiting.

Douglas Fairbanks, "the first King of Hollywood", is today remembered as the star of numerous silent swashbuckling epics, including The Mark of Zorro, The Three Musketeers and Robin Hood. However, he attained the popularity and industry clout to get such projects off the ground (which were out-of-favour with the public at the time) making his name as a funny man in a string of comedies. A founding member of United Artists, and the very first president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Fairbanks and then-wife Mary Pickford were Hollywood's first golden couple and at the peak of their popularity and power, when he set his sights on his most ambitious fantasy adventure yet, The Thief of Bagdad.Loosely inspired by the collection of...

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Jude Law as Douglas Fairbanks? It’s hard to imagine the cool and aloof (and blue-eyed blond) Law playing Fairbanks, the ever-smiling, ever-bouncing, swarthy hero of silent era blockbusters such as The Three Musketeers, Robin Hood, and The Thief of Bagdad. But stranger things have happened: I’d never have imagined Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, but that didn’t prevent Williams from earning excellent reviews, critics’ awards, and an Oscar nod for her performance in Simon Curtis’ My Week with Marilyn. Anyhow, according to Forbes magazine, Poverty Row Entertainment producers Jennifer DeLia and Julie Pacino (Al Pacino’s daughter) want Jude Law to play opposite Lily Rabe‘s Mary Pickford in their upcoming Pickford biopic, which DeLia is set to direct. Fairbanks and Pickford, the King and Queen of Hollywood, were married in 1920. It was fairy-tale marriage — at least as far as the fan magazines were concerned. Away from the cameras and the press,...

Cinema Retro has just received this press release from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Of special note is that their March screenings include a rare theatrical showing of Blake Edwards' 1965 comedy The Great Race starring Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. The film is being screened as part of a tribute to costume designers. Natalie Wood in The Great Race

Friday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m.

at the Samuel Goldwyn TheaterTHE Thief Of Bagdad (1924)

Featuring a color-tinted print restored by Kevin Brownlow with

a stereo musical score composed by Carl Davis

Silent film legend Douglas Fairbanks delivers one of his most charismatic performances in “The Thief of Bagdad,” a rollicking adventure tale widely considered to be his masterpiece. Presented in celebration of the Academy’s new Douglas Fairbanks book and exhibition, this rare big-screen presentation also offers a dazzling display of silent film craftsmanship, highlighted by immense,...