2010-07-06

The Thief of Bagdad

TSPDT Greatest Films #335 The Thief of Bagdad (Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan, 1940)


This Technicolor entertainment of 1940 has everything to satisify viewers of any generation. I think Disney understood that when they made Aladdin. The plot is pretty much the same and the action is set in the same times. The main differences are that made in 1940 with real actors it took lots of creativity to adapt this story.

Well, even if it was not the first time it was made for the big screen the version Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger and Tim Whelan executed is by many opinion the best adaptation. Raoul Walsh's silent version of 1924 with Douglas Fairbanks is now on my wanted list.

The Thief of Bagdad is well made and its "mise-en-scène" is phenomenal! Sadly I don't own the Criterion release of that picture. Just to have the chance to see its new transfer to appreciate the colors and the textures of this wonderful film I hope to put my hands on Criterion's release. A must see!


A review by Michaël Parent

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