"THIEF OF BAGDAD" REWARDING FANTASY

         His place in movie history is as unforgettable and influential as it is unique. His name was Sabu Dastagir, but in film he was known simply as Sabu. Born in 1924 in Mysore, India (according to IMDb), the son of an elephant driver was spotted by a British film crew and whisked away to start a new life at age 9 as an actor. His first movie was Elephant Boy (1937), produced by Alexander Korda, with whom Sabu was placed under exclusive contract.
          The Thief of Bagdad (1940) is probably Korda's finest film, the other likely contender being 1942's The Jungle Book, in which Sabu stars as the best Mowgli of them all. Korda's Bagdad shares the same title as the stunning 1924 predecessor starring the athletic Douglas Fairbanks, and presents an equally fantastic tale of the Arabian Nights.
          The Miklos Rozsa music (he also co-wrote the screenplay), spectacular Technicolor, and iconic performances not only by the great Sabu but also by the great Conrad Veidt and more all contribute to the top-tier family fare. Veidt plays Jaffar, an evil magician who advises the earnest young Prince Ahmad (Justin) to travel outside the royal palace incognito among his subjects the better to learn their hearts. And the Prince listens.
          Big mistake.
          The magician's name, the name of the character Abu (whom Sabu plays), and numerous other aspects including a childlike sultan with "the greatest collection of toys in the world" may prove recognizable to audiences familiar with the 1992 Disney cartoon Aladdin, currently in theaters as a re-make, part of a live-action/CGI trend Disney is undergoing. Disney seems to have appropriated much of Thief into the 1992 cartoon with no visible credit given to the 1940 source material. For that matter, in Faust (1926), the title character is presented to a princess in the guise of a fabulous elephant-riding prince by, not s genie, but rather the Devil. Compare the procession scene in both films to appreciate the uncanny resemblance.
          The 1940 gem unfolds in medias res, in the middle of things, beginning with a blind beggar aided by a remarkable dog. Remaining intentionally vague to preserve the experience, suffice to say The Thief of Bagdad is packed with magic, adventure, and romance, including the biggest and most authentic genie ever, magnificently played by Rex Ingram. Also starring the always lovely June Duprez as the Princess.
          In 1944 twenty year-old Sabu enlisted in the Army Air Force and earned WWII distinction in combat as a tail gunner. Despite his real-life heroics, in the tradition of many a child actor, Sabu's film career steadily waned the further he moved from youth.
          Check out the sometimes imitated but never duplicated feel-good fantasy freely available online.

THE THIEF OF BAGDAD
Starring Sabu,
John Justin,
Conrad Veidt,
June Duprez,
Rex Ingram
Directed by Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan
Written by Miles Malleson, Lajos Biro, Miklos Rozsa
Runtime 106 minutes


Stewart Kirby writes for
THE INDEPENDENT
and
TWO RIVERS TRIBUNE

"JAWS" GUTSY

          Talkin' 'bout sharkin'.
          Based on Peter Benchley's 1974 bestseller, Steven Spielberg's smash hit Jaws (1975) defined the summer blockbuster. What Hitchcock did for the bathroom shower, Spielberg did for oceans, rivers, and swimming pools.
          At the time that Spielberg directed the movie he was only 27, yet International Movie Database lists 17 prior directorial credits. Episodes of TV shows, mostly, including "Night Gallery" and "Columbo".
          It's the story of a small island community dependent on summer tourism. When a young woman is killed by a Great White shark, the town mayor tries to keep the situation quiet. But when more attacks occur, the town hires a salty old sea dog named Quint (Shaw) to find the shark and kill it.
          At the center of the action is the town's new police chief, Brody (Scheider), who is himself a sort of fish out of water, wanting to do the right thing, but not really knowing how. His sympathies lie with Hooper (Dreyfuss), the college boy sent by the Oceanographic Institute to determine the species and size of the rogue shark.
          As a backdrop to the story, the so-called Generation Gap. Almost all of the authority figures can't really be trusted, the exception being Brody. In a sense the film crests a cultural wave. Post-Watergate, audiences had an appetite for suspicion toward the mainstream, even disdain. When Brody and Hooper accompany Quint on his little boat, the conflict between young Hooper and old Quint sustains interest until such times as the shark appears.
          Robert Shaw, the hit-man who fights Sean Connery in From Russia, With Love, and the mob boss Paul Newman and Robert Redford take on in The Sting, also happened to be an award-winning playwright.
          For filmmaking purposes, much of the action with the shark needed to be set during the daytime, and occur in ways that would affect audiences at the expense of accuracy. As an unintended consequence, people started trying to get back at sharks. Many a Great White was killed worldwide directly because of Jaws.
          One of the things that makes the film so effective was the unreliability of the mechanical shark. Because of difficulties making it properly operate, Spielberg often had to find new ways to shoot scenes which actually increased suspense.
          And then there's the music. In 1974, Spielberg approached one John Williams to write the music for his film The Sugarland Express, and then the next year they had the huge hit with Jaws. To this day, the simple notes indicating the shark moving in the water are instantly recognizable even to people who've never seen the movie.
          Some movies crush beer cans with their bare hands, while others do the same to Styrofoam cups. Jaws crushes kegs. With teeth.
          Hunt down the summer movie wherever fine films are found.


JAWS
Starring Robert Shaw,
Roy Scheider,
Richard Dreyfuss,
Lorraine Gary,
Murray Hamilton
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb
Based on the novel by Peter Benchley
Runtime 124 minutes


Stewart Kirby writes for 
THE INDEPENDENT
and
TWO RIVERS TRIBUNE

"HELP!" CULT FAVORITE

          In their second film (and their first in color), Beatles John, Paul, and George must protect Ringo from a cult trying to sacrifice him.
          But it isn't all just laughs. There's great music, too, including the title song, "Ticket to Ride," "You're Gonna Lose That Girl," and many more.
          Directed by Richard Lester, who directed the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night (1964), Help! (1965) is 92 minutes of the lads from Liverpool larking cartoonishly about. It's not as good as A Hard Day's Night, but it's the next best thing.
          We never find out exactly where the cult comes from. We can see that the leader is a middle-aged Anglo who talks like he wants people to think he's from India, but that's about all we get. Stranger still, no reason is ever given why or how Ringo got the cult's sacrificial ring in the first place.
          That's because it's a totally nonsensical story, which is exactly the way the Beatles truly lived, always being chased around and doing silly things.
          Using the fantastic wealth and influence at their disposal as a result of their amazing rock n' roll success, the Fab Four get scientists to try to help them remove the ring from Ringo's finger. In this process, Paul is accidentally shrunk down small enough to stand inside an ashtray.
          Two years later, Magical Mystery Tour (1967) pushed the psychedelic envelope for the Beatles, but it makes a much better album than it does a film.
          Yellow Submarine (1968) would at first seem to take the progression of lighthearted surrealism in Beatles films to the next level by making them literally a cartoon. But the actors providing the voices in that movie aren't the Beatles (who appear only for a moment at the very end), so that's a major letdown.
          Richard Lester went on to direct two of the greatest swashbucklers: The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974). Look for character actor Roy Kinnear in both of Lester's Beatle movies, plus both of the Musketeers.
          Filmed in the sun-drenched beaches of the Bahamas, the snowy slopes of Austria, and additional fine locations, Help! isn't just the best comedy-adventure-musical starring the Beatles to ever be released in 1965, it's also the only one!
          Freely available online.


HELP!
Starring John Lennon,
Paul McCartney,
George Harrison,
Ringo Starr,
Leo McKern,
Eleanor Bron,
Victor Spinetti,
Roy Kinnear
Directed by Richard Lester
Written by Marc Behm, Charles Wood
Runtime 92 minutes


Stewart Kirby writes for
THE INDEPENDENT
and
TWO RIVERS TRIBUNE