![]() ![]() The Mongol slave tells her countryman of the prophecy, but before he can touch the rose-tree, Ahmed's startled horse tosses its rider into it. The mere sight of the Mongol fills the princess with fear, but when Ahmed appears (disguised in stolen garments as a suitor), she is delighted. The princess watches anxiously as first the glowering Prince of the Indies, then the obese Prince of Persia and finally the Prince of the Mongols pass by the rose-tree. Another of the princess's slaves foretells that she will marry the man who first touches a rose-tree in her garden. Three princes arrive, seeking her hand in marriage (and the future inheritance of the city). When his associate Abu reminds the disconsolate Ahmed that a bygone thief once stole another princess during the reign of Haroun al-Rashid, Ahmed sets out to do the same. The princess's Mongol slave alerts the guards, but he gets away. All thoughts of plunder are forgotten when he sees the sleeping princess, the caliph's daughter. That night, he sneaks into the palace of the caliph using a magic rope he stole during ritual prayers. Wandering into a mosque, he tells the holy man he disdains his religion his philosophy is, "What I want, I take." The superb visual design, spectacle, imaginative splendor, and visual effects, along with his bravura performance (leading a cast of literally thousands), all contribute to making this his masterpiece." Plot Soviet Russian film poster of The Thief of BagdadĪhmed steals as he pleases in the city of Bagdad. Fairbanks biographer Jeffrey Vance writes, "An epic romantic fantasy-adventure inspired by several of the Arabian Nights tales, The Thief of Bagdad is the greatest artistic triumph of Fairbanks's career. The Thief of Bagdad is now widely considered one of the great silent films and Fairbanks's greatest work. The film, strong on special effects ( flying carpet, magic rope and fearsome monsters) and featuring massive Arabian-style sets, also proved to be a stepping stone for Anna May Wong, who portrayed a treacherous Mongol slave. Along with his earlier Robin Hood (1922), the film marked Fairbanks's transformation from genial comedy to a career in "swashbuckling" roles. The imaginative gymnastics suited the athletic star, whose "catlike, seemingly effortless" movements were as much dance as gymnastics. įairbanks considered this to be the favorite of his films, according to his son. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Freely adapted from One Thousand and One Nights, it tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad. The Thief of Bagdad is a 1924 American silent swashbuckler film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Douglas Fairbanks, and written by Achmed Abdullah and Lotta Woods. ![]()
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