Anybody in doubt about how far the cinema had come in less than thirty years need look no farther than this outsized Arabian Nights fantasy which spent nearly two million dollars (a lot of money in 1924!) in its endeavour to outdo Continental epics of the early twenties like 'Der Mude Tod' and 'Siegfried' and was it's star's personal favourite of his own movies.
Running over two and half hours, it's really two separate stories one after the other (the first introducing the Thief himself, the second half detailing his long, eventful quest for treasures to woo the Princess despite opposition from the evil Mongol prince (who in the remake became Jaffar) and slaying a dragon and other outsized creepy-crawlies).
It's inordinate length derives largely from its desire to throw in anything that occurred to Fairbanks and his team while it was in production; especially the dramatic Art Nouveau sets by William Cameron Menzies to which director Raoul Walsh was obliged to devote a lot of time standing back and admiring.
Running over two and half hours, it's really two separate stories one after the other (the first introducing the Thief himself, the second half detailing his long, eventful quest for treasures to woo the Princess despite opposition from the evil Mongol prince (who in the remake became Jaffar) and slaying a dragon and other outsized creepy-crawlies).
It's inordinate length derives largely from its desire to throw in anything that occurred to Fairbanks and his team while it was in production; especially the dramatic Art Nouveau sets by William Cameron Menzies to which director Raoul Walsh was obliged to devote a lot of time standing back and admiring.