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The Thief of Badgad (1940)

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:07 am    Post subject: The Thief of Badgad (1940) Reply with quote

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This remarkable Arabian Nights adventure is still a join to watch, more than seventy years after its release.

The special effects are not simply "remarkable for their time", they're still remarkable today! The music my Miklós Rózsa ranges back and forth between romantic and heroic, pumping its own special energy into a movie that's already packed full of it.

YouTube has a beautiful copy at the link below.


The Thief of Bagdad (1940 film) Fantasy Adventure


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IMDB offers interesting trivia items, some of which describe the remarkable production history of this movie.
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~ This is the first movie to ever use blue screens.

Note from me: Wow, right off the bat we learn where those amazing blue screens and green screens came from!

~ Filming began in Britain, but because of the Blitz--the German air raids on London--the production relocated to Hollywood. There was such a long break in production that Sabu's early scenes had to be re-shot because he had grown several inches.

Note from me: Yep, that's the problem with child actors. They grow — even when the cameras aren't rolling.

This is why the sitcom called "Two and a Half Men" eventually became "Two and Three Quarters Men", and finally "Three Men, One of Whom Rarely Appeared After He Stopped Being Short and Cute". Rolling Eyes

~ Most of the 18 riders who clear the market prior to the Princess' procession are women. This may have been because so many men had been taken into the British armed forces.

Note from me: I guess the Arabian version of "Rosie the Riveter" might be called "Rosalina the Rider". Very Happy

~ When filming began in the US, the stricter censorship codes of the Hays Office there were applied. One of the most obvious differences between the scenes shot in the UK and those filmed in the US is that the tops of the actresses' costumes were buttoned up all the way to satisfy the Hays Office. That kind of clue makes it easier to identify the US-shot scenes than trying to spot differences in the sets.

Note from me: Those folks in the Hays Office didn't want American males to know that women had breasts . . .

~ Vivien Leigh was originally cast in the role of the Princess, but when in late 1938 she won the part of Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind (1939)," producer Alexander Korda gave the role to young up-and-coming starlet June Duprez.

Note from me: Miss Leigh was gorgeous, and she would have made a fine princess.

~ The first assigned director, Ludwig Berger, wanted his old friend, 80-year-old Austrian operetta composer Oscar Straus, to compose the score. Miklós Rózsa only won the assignment by sitting in an office adjoining Berger's and playing his catchy melodies over and over.

The Viennese waltzes that Strauss had supplied were quickly dropped in favor of Rozsa's sweeping and colorful score.


Note from me: I suspect the movie would have a very different flavor if Ludwig had written the score. I'd give Miklós' score a 100 for it's rich, heroic nature.

On the other hand, I'd probably just give Ludwig's score an 80 because "it had a good beat and was easy to waltzes to". Wink

~ The film's screenwriter, Miles Malleson, has a rather significant cameo as the toy-obsessed Sultan of Basra.

Note from me: Fascinating! The brilliant man who penned the script played the silly old fart who traded his beloved daughter for a magical/mechanical flying horse!

~ The first director, Ludwig Berger, was dismissed because of creative differences with producer Alexander Korda. Berger envisioned the picture as a lyrical black-and-white fantasy film, whilst Korda believed that it should be a big, bold epic in color.

Korda's brother, Vincent Korda, had made some color sketches which proved to be the final tipping point that convinced Alexander the film should be shot in color and that another director should be brought in to fulfill his vision.


Note from me: The idea that The Thief of Bagdad might have been made in black & white makes me feel a bit ill . . . Sad

~ Henry Fonda was intended for the role of Jaffar. Producer Alexander Korda had seen him in two Technicolor films and thought the actor would look good in close-ups.

Note from me: Sorry, I can't even picture this! Fonda as the evil sorcerer Jaffar? Naaah! Rolling Eyes

~ At some point during production, it seems that the movie was intended to be a musical. Three songs made it in to the final cut, but lyrics exist for several other songs to be sung by the characters, as well as a recording of Rex Ingram singing one verse of a song intended for the genie.

Note from me: I could be wrong, but I don't think this movie would have been improved if it had included musical numbers.

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Krel
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:48 pm    Post subject: Re: The Thief of Badgad (1940) Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Note from me: The idea that The Thief of Bagdad might have been made in black & white makes me feel a bit ill . . . Sad

They made a silent, B&W version back in 1924, it starred Douglas Fairbanks.

I have seen both, but not for decades, at least 45 to 50 years...OH GOD I'M OLD!

The Hays Office, A.K.A. the Hays Code, officially the Motion Picture Production Code was initiated by Hollywood to stop the U.S. Government from opening an over-site office of it's own. The public was alarmed by several Hollywood scandals and some objectionable movies, and so they started demanding that Uncle Sam do something to rein Hollywood in.

Hollywood hired a former Postmaster General, William H. Hays, to enforce the production codes. The codes were adopted in 1930, but not enforced until 1934. Hays did not originate the codes, he only enforced them.

David.

Thanks to Bud for catching my misspelling. It really changes the meaning of what I wrote. Laughing


Last edited by Krel on Sat Apr 24, 2021 12:13 am; edited 1 time in total
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are major plot differences between the 1924 Douglas Fairbanks silent and the 1940 version. In the latter film, the principal character is essentially split in two: Sabu, as the titular thief, plays the comic foil to romantic lead John Justin as Ahmad the deposed king.

There's also a 1961 Italian-French THIEF OF BAGHDAD with Steve Reeves, and a 1978 version with Roddy McDowall.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 3:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

YouTube has a magnificent copy of the 1924 version of this movie.

It also has a beautiful music score. Cool

My only complaint is the unnecessary "color tinting" of the picture, instead of just letting it be shown in beautiful B&W.

Having done quite a few drawings in graphite over the years, I have great respect for the appeal of artwork which makes use of the many shades of gray. Good B&W photography does exactly what I tried to do in the drawing below.






My feeling is that color is best applied selectively to separate areas of an image —





— not just brushed over the entire image in one pastel stroke to hide the fact that it was originally filmed in B&W. Rolling Eyes

But I easily corrected this problem with the video below by dialing down the color on my TV to zero. Very Happy


________________ The Thief of Bagdad (1924)


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Please note that the video above is listed on YouTube as The Thief of Bagdad Seas for some odd reason. I corrected the title above. Very Happy

YouTube has another version listed as The Masterpiece Thief of Bagdad in Fullscreen. But their idea of "fullscreen" is an artificial "widescreen", created by stretching the proper 4:3 image into a 16:9 version to eliminate the black bars — despite this abominable practice which distorts the image! Rolling Eyes

I can't understand why people who supposedly love movies insist on distorting 4:3 images just to fill up the screen and remove the necessary black bars which an "academy ratio" image requires!
Shocked
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

scotpens wrote:
There's also a 1961 Italian-French THIEF OF BAGHDAD with Steve Reeves, and a 1978 version with Roddy McDowall.

I can't say I'm tempted by either of those two later versions.

__ THIEF of BAGHDAD trailer, 1961. STEVE REEVES.


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_______________ The Thief of Baghdad (1978)


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