THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924) ***

Douglas Fairbanks stars as a miscreant thief who is content on picking pockets and living life like a complete scoundrel.  One day, he spies a fair princess (Julanne Johnston) and falls head over heels in love with her.  Wearing garments he’s stolen from the bazaar, the thief poses as a prince to win her hand, but is flogged publicly when his true identity is discovered.  Afterwards, a contest is held, and it is declared that the man who brings back the rarest treasure will take the princess as his bride.  The thief then goes off into the desert and faces various perils in order to find a precious treasure and prove his love. 

Fairbanks is a lot of fun to watch, especially while performing feats of derring-do and flashing his Cheshire Cat smile.  The real star though is production designer William Cameron Menzies who combines the lavish sets with the amazing costumes and the incredible special effects with eye-popping pizzazz.  Even when you can spot the seams in the matte work, the artistry needed to coordinate all those departments together (particularly for the time) is considerable.  One thing is for sure, there’s more imagination and old-fashioned movie magic on display in one given frame of this movie than many modern-day blockbusters have in their entirety. 

At 155 minutes, The Thief of Bagdad is really way too long for its own good. Things get particularly pokey during the middle section.  Once Fairbanks goes on his quest, the movie kicks into fourth gear and moves at dizzying speed.  In this stretch of the film, he fights a giant lizard, encounters a creepy looking tree man, and does battle with an enormous bat.  I think my favorite moment though was Fairbanks’ duel to the death with a vicious looking sea spider.  Too bad these scenes are rather fleeting and are quickly over before they can really begin, but monster movie fans are sure to love the creature designs.  The famous scenes of Fairbanks riding on a magic carpet pack a punch too.  

Despite the sometimes-overwhelming length, this Thief of Bagdad is a lot more fun that 1940 remake, which was co-directed by Menzies.

AKA:  The Thief of Bagdad:  An Arabian Nights Fantasy.