I found this silent film in the book of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I knew there was a 1940 remake that got much higher ratings from critics, but I was definitely looking forward to seeing this classic original, from director Raoul Walsh (High Sierra, White Heat). Basically in the city of Bagdad lives (Ahmed) The Thief (Douglas Fairbanks) steals anything valuable and to get him by, and he has stolen a magic rope that he can summon to climb high heights, and using this he can sneak into the palace of The Caliph (Brandon Hurst). But his habit for thievery fades away when he sees the Caliph's daughter, The Princess (Julanne Johnston), he is instantly infatuated, but he is forced to escape when spotted by The Mongol Slave (Anna May Wong). The Thief is determined to win the heart of the Princess, and he hears from His Evil Associate (Snitz Edwards) that a princess has been stolen during the reign of a previous ruler, and he gets his chance the next day when it is her birthday. She is given the fortune that whoever touches a rose bush will be the man she married, she is hoping it will not be one of the three princes, Prince of the Indies (Noble Johnson), obese Prince of Persia (Mathilde Comont) and the Prince of the Mongols (Sôjin Kamiyama), they all pass, and the Thief appears in stolen garments, and he only touches the rose bush when his horse throws him into it. The Princess is delighted and chooses the Thief as her husband to be, but he had plans to abduct her and with his great love for her confesses all to her, he is arrested after being overheard by the Mongol Prince's spy, he is punished with lashes, and before further torture he is bribed by the Princess to be let go. She is told she must choose another man to marry, therefore she tells all potential princes that they should find her a gift after "seven moons", and the one she will marry will be the one who has the rarest treasure, the Thief feels despair, but visiting The Holy Man (Charles Belcher) he is directed to a place that great hidden treasures lie. The Indian Prince finds a crystal ball that can show anything you want to see, and the Persian Prince finds a magic flying carpet, but the Mongol Prince has his own plans to take over the kingdom and use the Princess as his incentive, and to help with his plan he has a slave poison the Princess, and he will use a magic apple to cure her. Meanwhile the Thief has had many adventures in the mysterious land, and the treasure he has found include a cloak to turn him invisible, and magic powder that when he sprinkles will turn into anything he wishes, he makes his way back to Bagdad, as do the other princes when they hear the news of the Princess near death. Her life is saved with the magic apple, the other princes besides the Mongol Prince are regarded useless, but she sees the Thief, Ahmed, transformed into a prince, in the magic crystal ball, but before he arrives the Mongol Prince unleashes his army to take over the city, but the Thief uses his magic powder to summon another army to make the other flee. The Mongol Prince attempts to try and kill this new prince, but Ahmed saves the Princess who takes her away on the flying carpet, and he uses the invisibility cloak to defeat the other characters trying to catch them, and with Bagdad saved and the Princess safe the Caliph in gratitude allows his daughter to marry Ahmed. Also starring Winter Blossom as Slave of the Lute and Etta Lee as Slave of the Sand Board. Fairbanks gives one of his best performance as the often grinning and shirtless almost all the way through scoundrel thief turned brave hero, Johnston looks pretty as the princess longing to find the right prince, and the other supporting characters do their parts well also. I can see that this would have been one of the inspirations for ideas put into Disney cartoon Aladdin, obviously it an Arabian Nights story, and with elements like magic ropes, flying carpets and magic powder there is great spectacle, these special effect moments use terrific camera and editing tricks, and the swashbuckling bits with fights and chases are great fun, a splendid silent fantasy adventure. Very good!
Review of The Thief of Bagdad
