"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