The Thief of Bagdad
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The Thief of Bagdad is a 1924 Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckler adventure film which tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Primary cast:
- Douglas Fairbanks : The Thief of Bagdad
- Snitz Edwards : His Evil Associate
- Charles Belcher : The Holy Man
- Julanne Johnston : The Princess
- Sojin : The Mongol Prince
- Anna May Wong : The Mongol Slave
- Brandon Hurst : The Caliph
- Tote Du Crow : The Soothsayer
- Noble Johnson : The Indian Prince
1940 version:
The 1940 film version of The Thief of Bagdad is notable for being in Technicolor and having special effects which were impressive for their day. Produced by Alexander Korda's company London Films in England, due to the outbreak of World War II filming was completed in California in the United States. It was directed by Michael Powell and Ludwig Berger, and starred Conrad Veidt and child actor Sabu. The film won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Art Direction and for Special Effects. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Original Music Score.
Although the two films have some similarities there are also significant differences. The most notable is that in the 1940 version the thief and the prince are separate characters.