The Thief of Bagdad

Cormac 👑4.0

Spellbinding. Enchanting. Magical. Travel on a magic carpet ride made of dreams as forged before our very eyes, through some 100 years, the sands of time and millions of petty thieves, cheap swindlers and half-assed scoundrels. Take a bite of the poison apple and taste the seeds of our very imaginations. Gaze into this crystal ball to envision what was still to come.To remind us of the everlasting sorcery of the silver screen from fully-formed inception, with a trail that still lingers today. See adventures, before we knew them to be adventures. Enjoy the immortal romance, the building blocks of the modern blockbuster paved while that still stood for something to sweep feet before they could think to stand. Witness entertainment that transcends, far beyond age or era or rules or so-called genre expectations.Cinematic alchemy, as found in the devilish charm of Douglas Fairbanks and that impish spring in his step that you can’t not root for (those rope swivels alone.) And Raoul Walsh’s godlike compositions, as if he came out of the womb primed and ready with a keen eye for visual splendour and spectacle. Watch it and believe; in awe. But first, surrender yourself to the power of the all-encompassing illusion. Of the silent, epic time machine from cogs to creation. In all its mighty, trailblazing glory.

Paul Elliott4.0

The outstanding art deco sets from William Cameron Menzies and some thoughtful cinematography by Arthur Edeson impact positively on Raoul Walsh’s adaptation of elements from the fables from One Thousand and One Nights.Douglas Fairbanks excels in his role as Ahmed, the Thief of Bagdad, and he manages in delivering a performance which incorporates some impressive athletic stunts while performing his charming melodramatising at the same time that he's brandishing his trademark smile. The well-known and celebrated story follows Ahmed as he competes with a treacherous Mongol ruler Cham Shang (Sojin Kamiyama) for the hand of a gorgeous princess and the production throughout is truly stunning and can rank alongside some of the more visually remarkable silent films such as D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance. The editing by William Nolan does periodically suffer from some unbalanced pacing, and there are some extended passages where things become a little humdrum and could have been much tighter; nevertheless, things generally move along with an acceptable level of fluidity and charisma. The costumes, designed by Mitchell Leisen, are spectacular and the production crew always discover imaginative ways to work within the technological limitations of the day to create a great atmosphere and an extraordinary sweeping adventure.

SilentDawn3.5

63Exceptional set-design and adventure tropes. Douglas Fairbanks is a treasure. Not quite up to par with the 1940 film, but it's very much a great example of a silent fantasy.