Thief of Bagdad, The (1940)
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Honors:
Producer Alexander Korda takes movie audiences on a magic carpet ride
to the magical adventures of Arabian nights in his Technicolor spectacle The Thief of Bagdad. This brightly
colored motion picture would be one of the first major uses of chroma key,
better known by many as “bluescreening,” in a heavy special effects laden film
that captured imaginations of audiences as the movie appeared to provide actual
movie magic the business over. This British produced picture would be affected
by the outbreak of World War II, causing production to move to Hollywood
mid-shooting, and with its timing and high creativity it proved to be one of
the highest praised films of its era.
The Thief of Bagdad is a
fantasy adventure set in the time of Arabian Nights where a young king is usurped
by his magic-wielding advisor, he then befriends a quick thinking street thief
plans to win back his kingdom while rescue the prettiest maiden in the all the
world. The king’s advisor, Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), cons the naïve King of
Bagdad, Ahmad (John Justin), out of his kingdom and attempts to marry the
princess he loves (June Duprez). Ahmad befriends a street wise thief named Abu
(Sabu) who aids Ahmad in his battle for his throne and his love. In an
adventure that hurdles the heroes throughout Arabia including encounters with a
genie (Rex Ingram), a deathly monsters, magical stones, and a flying carpets Abu
helps Ahmad regain his throne and the Princess.
If one was to quickly describe what makes this particular feature stand
out from its 1940 counterparts it is easy to say that the beautiful Technicolor
cinematography and the breakthrough special effects are what make this picture
stand out. Producer Alexander Korda sought to create a motion picture with the
magical fantasy of a Walt Disney cartoon with the majestic live action color
and wonder seen in The Wizard of Oz
and Gone with the Wind.
Sidestepping the idea that the picture’s effects are dated from eyes of
much later decades, this film as a product of its age was a masterpiece/prestige
picture. The movie utilizes the first major use of chroma key where actors or
objects are filmed in front of a solid colored backdrop (usually blue, but
years later more commonly green) and through post production film processing
can substitute another filmed background in the place of solid color. This
effect allows characters to be in places unvisted, or achieves sizes greater or
smaller than real life based on the filmmaker’s creativity. The effect had been
utilized before in other motion pictures, but here it is used to make men
appear small, genies appear humungous, or make horses or magic carpets fly
through the clouds. This film would be a benchmark with its date as to how
chroma key would one day become a standardly used means of filming special
effects shots through the decades, decades later to be greatly mastered by the
likes of Industrial Light and Magic and Weta Workshop.
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| Ahmad and Jaffar |
The Thief of Bagdad was a
labor of great pride for producer Alexander Korda, but would become a headache
picture due to world events during a turbulent period in Europe and Korda’s
overbearing nature towards his filmmakers during its production. Produced under
Korda’s London Films the shooting began in England, but as the Nazi German forces
blitzed British soil the production was halted in London and moved the
Hollywood, greatly slowing the schedule. Due to changes casting and schedules
were greatly altered. Even early scenes of Sabu, then only 15 years old, had to
be reshot as he had grown several inches in height over the period of shooting
dates.
Korda’s grip on how the production was in his mind made it difficult on
men behind the camera directing the picture. Over the course of production the
name on the director’s chair changed six times. The film began with German
filmmaker Ludwig Berger behind the helm, but would be handed off to other
directors through the picture’s journey, including English director Michael
Powell, and American Tim Whelan, and even landed in the laps of the uncredited
group containing Korda himself, his brother Zoltan, and even art director
William Cameron Menzies. During production Alexander Korda was known to be
difficult to work for, so to see direction jump all over the place would be
understandable, as well as the style to appear to change through the picture.
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| Abu flies away to his next adventure. |
The film was intended to be a remake of the very popular 1924 silent
feature starring the very famous Douglas Fairbanks in the title role; however
the story of the picture greatly transformed. Most notably was the split of the
main character into two separate characters as the thief and the king. Much
else of the picture would modified because of this split, but from observation
this split was probably done in order to separate the romance of the story with
Ahmad with the more daring adventures shared by Abu. In the end we ultimately
get the same result, but it enables the character of Abu to not be tied down by
emotions of being in a romance, but always seeking his next adventure. This
fact is made clear in the finale as Abu flies off to discover his next escapade.
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| Sabu would become a shortlived star for his leading role. |
The film starred the young British-occupied Indian Sabu Dastagir, an
actor discovered by documentarian Robert Flaherty, who had cast him at the age
of 13 in a drama/adventure picture. Soon after his cinematic debut Korda began
making films intended for the young, energetic star. Commonly billed by just
him first name, Sabu was cast in adventurous role such as the title character
in The Thief of Bagdad which helped
make him an international star.
Despite the film being titled The
Thief of Bagdad the real central character of the plot is that of Ahmad,
the King of Bagdad whose crown is taken from him by the trickery of his
sorcerous advisor. Debuting actor John Justin would portray the young king who
would carry the romance of the picture opposite of his love interest in the
Princess played by June Duprez. Justin has with him a Errol Flynn type of
quality, but without the adventurous side in this first major role of his.
Duprez had become a London Films regular, and replaced the originally intended
Vivien Leigh who left production to film Gone
with the Wind.
Playing the villain of the picture was long time film veteran, German
born actor Conrad Veidt who was best remembered for his silent films The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Man Who Laughs. A wondrously villainous
character actor Veidt provides a classic scoundrel sorcerer-type to the
picture.
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| Rex Ingram as the Genie |
Portraying the brief, yet very memorable role as the genie was African
American actor Rex Ingram, who was best known for his roles in The Green Pastures and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Unfortunately,
like most of his roles, as an actor he was overlooked for his work in the
picture.
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| A lack of chemistry in the films romance. |
The feature itself was a rather well liked picture. Critics greatly
enjoyed the imaginative story and special effects alongside of the beautiful
Technicolor presentation. Sabu would gain great notoriety for his work, and his
performance along with Conrad Veidt was most often praised. Justin and Duprez’s
chemistry would be the lacking feature, and duly noted for by critics of the
time, but the overall scope of the picture polished out this deficient measure.
The spectacle would earn itself three Academy Awards, winning for Best Cinematography
(Color), Best Art Direction, and Best Special Effects.
The Thief of Bagdad would accomplish
what it really set out to do and outshined the 1924 original. Setting new bars
on special effects it would motivate future generations of filmmakers for years
to come. The feature’s style would even continue to inspire films as late as
the 1990s which can be heavily seen in Disney’s animated picture Aladdin. The Thief of Bagdad brought with it a new standard in special
effects and it continues to be its legacy in the history of cinema.
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