El ladron de Bagdad

After 60 some odd years THE THIEF OF BAGDAD is still one of the most

wondrous movies ever made. Filmed in wartime England and without the

use of digital imagry, the film soars and makes believers of us all.

From Rex Ingram's memorable Genie, (has any laugh been better than his

rumbling "BoohooHAHAHAH"?) to the Flying Horse, the six armed murderous

doll, the immense spider and on and on, the film excites in a visceral

way that no FX person could duplicate today. Though we can see through

the primitive special effects, the genius of this film is that the story

is told so well that we suspend our disbelief and fly along on a magic

carpet ride that never flags for all of its almost two hour running

time. Miles Malleson's script (he also plays the heroine's father in a

delightful turn), is filled with what we now see as cliches, but they

still bring a silly grin to our faces as we acknowledge them, and love

them all the same. The acting is WAY over the top and absolutely delightful. Sabu is

perfect as the little thief Abhou, John Justin stalwart as the hero

Ahmed, Conrad Veidt all snarly and despicable as the evil Jafar and June

Duprez all gauzy and creamy as the princess. The real star of the film, the glue that holds all the pieces

together,however, has to be Miklos Rozsa whose musical score evokes

every Arabian Nights fantasy that we have ever dreamed. What glorious

music, what a wondrous fim! (I was lucky enough to get an advance copy

of the new DVD of THIEF OF BAGDAD. What a great print. Wait till you

see it! It will knock your socks off.) I love Spielberg and I love

Lucas, but oh THE THIEF OF BAGDAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!