The Thief of Bagdad

1940
Approved
1h 46m

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

15K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer2:40

1 Video

99+ Photos

Adventure Family Fantasy Romance

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.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.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.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

15K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 3 Oscars
- 4 wins & 4 nominations total

Trivia
Filming began in Britain, but because of the Blitz - the German air raids on London - the production relocated to Hollywood. There was such a long break in production that Sabu's early scenes had to be reshot because he had grown several inches.

Goofs
In the Land of Legend, the Old King says that he will give two signs of kingship to Abu the thief. Abu is then given three items: a magic crossbow, a quiver, and a small, ornate box, like a jewelry box. No mention is made in the dialogue of this box, but it can be seen in Abu's right hand as he talks to the Old King and also on the flying carpet as Abu flies away to rescue his friends. Apparently the crossbow and quiver were only one, not two, of the Old King's signs of kingship, and the other sign was the mysterious box, whose magical powers and purpose were lost on the cutting room floor.

Quotes
[At the pool]
Princess: Who are you?
Ahmad: Your slave.
Princess: Where have you come from?
Ahmad: From the other side of time, to find you.
Princess: How long have you been searching?
Ahmad: Since time began.
Princess: Now that you've found me, how long will you stay?
Ahmad: To the end of time.
Princess: For me, there can be no more beauty in the world, than yours.
Ahmad: For me, there can be no more pleasure in the world, than to please you.

Connections
Edited into Your Afternoon Movie: Thief of Bagdad (2023)

Soundtracks
I Want To Be A Sailor
(uncredited)
Music by Miklós Rózsa
Lyrics by Robert Vansittart
Additional Lyrics by William Kernell
Performed by Sabu

User reviews138

Review

Featured review

8/10

A Wondrous Tale

The making of The Thief Of Bagdad is quite a story unto itself, almost as wondrous as the tale told in this film. Alexander Korda nearly went broke making this film.

According to the Citadel Film series Book about The Great British Films, adopted son of the United Kingdom Alexander Korda had conceived this film as early as 1933 and spent years of planning and preparation. But World War II unfortunately caught up with Korda and the mounting expenses of filming a grand spectacle.

Budget costs happen in US films too, only Cecil B. DeMille always had a free hand at Paramount after 1932 when he returned there. But DeMille nor any of his American contemporaries had to worry about enemy bombs while shooting the film. Part of the way through the shoot, Korda transported the whole company to America and shot those sequences with Rex Ingram as the genie in our Grand Canyon. He certainly wasn't going to get scenery like that in the UK. Korda also finished the interiors in Hollywood, all in time for a release on Christmas Day 1940.

The spectacle of the thing earned The Thief Of Bagdad four Academy Award nominations and three Oscars for best color cinematography, best art&set direction for a color film, and best special effects. Only Miklos Rosza's original musical score did not take home a prize in a nominated category. Korda must have been real happy about deciding to shoot in the Grand Canyon because it's impossible to get bad color pictures from that place.

The special effects however do not overwhelm the simple story of good triumphing over evil. The good is the two young lovers John Justin and June Duprez and the evil is Conrad Veidt as the sorcerer who tries to steal both a kingdom and a heart, both belonging to Duprez. This was Veidt's career role until Casablanca where he played the Luftwaffe major Stroesser.

Of course good gets a little help from an unlikely source. Beggar boy and thief Sabu who may very well have been one of the few who could call himself at the time an international movie star. Literally rising from poverty working as an elephant stable boy for the Maharajah of Mysore he was spotted by Alexander Korda who needed a native lead for one of his jungle features. Sabu captures all the innocence and mischievousness of youth as he fulfills the Arabian Nights fantasy of the boy who topples a tyrant. Not a bad message to be sending out in 1940 at that.

The Thief Of Bagdad holds up remarkably well today. It's an eternal tale of love, romance, and adventure in any order you want to put it.