The Thief of Bagdad by Achmed Abdullah
"The Thief of Bagdad," released in 1924, is a landmark silent film that features pioneering special effects and showcases the talents of star Douglas Fairbanks Sr., who also wrote and produced the film. Drawing inspiration from the tales of "The Arabian Nights," the movie presents a fantastical vision of an Arabian city filled with magic and adventure. The story follows Ahmed, a common thief portrayed by Fairbanks, who falls in love with a princess while navigating a plot involving rival suitors and magical gifts. The film stands out for its diverse cast, including notable performers like Anna May Wong, who gained international fame through her role.
Produced with a lavish budget that exceeded $2 million, "The Thief of Bagdad" was one of the most expensive films of its time and is recognized for its elaborate sets and costumes that reflect a romanticized view of the East. Its innovative use of special effects captivated American audiences and set a new standard for fantasy filmmaking. The film's enduring popularity has led to numerous remakes, and it is celebrated today as one of the top American fantasy films by the American Film Institute.
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The Thief of Bagdad by Achmed Abdullah
Identification: A silent film about an Arabian thief trying to win the love of the Caliph’s daughter
Director: Raoul Walsh
Date: 1924
The Thief of Bagdad was the first Hollywood film to feature lavish special effects. The brainchild of its star, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., the movie drew on popular American notions of a magical, fantastic Arabia and a sinister Far East.
In the early 1920s, the great success of Douglas Fairbanks Sr.’s silent films such as The Mark of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921), and Robin Hood (1922) made the popular actor one of Hollywood’s top stars. At the height of his stardom as a swashbuckling hero, Fairbanks decided to write, produce, and star in a fantasy movie inspired by the fictional tales of the popular book The Arabian Nights. Fairbanks’s production company selected Raoul Walsh as director and William Cameron Menzies as art director. The cast, led by Fairbanks, featured many Asian American, Native American, and African American actors, which was unusual for films at the time.
Shot on lavishly built sets reflecting the popular image of an Arabian city, the film was populated by characters in fantasy Arabian and Asian costumes. Production of The Thief of Bagdad ran over $2 million for United Artists studios and is said to have been the costliest film to be made to date. The special effects used in the film to represent magic and fantasy were new to American audiences.
The Thief of Bagdad tells the story of Ahmed (Fairbanks), a common thief in a medieval city. Just as the Caliph (Brandon Hurst) invites foreign princes to vie for the hand of his princess daughter (Julanne Johnston), Ahmed breaks into the Caliph’s palace. There, he immediately falls in love with the sleeping princess, but he is detected by one of the princess’s attendants, the Mongolian slave girl (Anna May Wong) who has been sent by one of the potential suitors, the evil Mongolian prince (Sojin Kamiyama). Ahmed escapes and poses as a foreign prince the next day, only to be denounced by the slave girl. As the suitors search for magic gifts for the princess, Ahmed escapes the city to acquire a few magic items of his own. When the Mongolian prince seizes the city and threatens the princess, Ahmed reappears to save the day and fly away with the princess on his magic carpet.
Impact
The Thief of Bagdad was extremely popular when first released, bolstering Fairbanks’s stardom and launching eighteen-year-old Chinese American actor Anna May Wong to international fame. The film was remade numerous times throughout the twentieth century, and in 2008, the original 1924 film was listed as one of the top ten American fantasy movies by the American Film Institute.
Bibliography
Chan, Anthony B. Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong, 1905–1961. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2007.
Moss, Marilyn Ann. Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood’s Legendary Director. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2011.
Vance, Jeffrey, Tony Maietta, and Robert Cushman. Douglas Fairbanks. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.