The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

The Thief of Bagdad is a 1940 British Technicolor Arabian fantasy film produced by Alexander Korda and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with additional contributions by Korda's brothers Vincent and Zoltán, and William Cameron Menzies. The film starred child actor Sabu, Conrad Veidt, John Justin, and June Duprez. It was distributed in the US and the UK by United Artists.
Although produced by Alexander Korda's company London Films in London, due to the outbreak of World War II, the film was completed in California and was then distributed by United Artists.
Thief of Bagdad won the Academy Awards for Cinematography, Art Direction (Vincent Korda) and Special Effects (Lawrence W. Butler, Jack Whitney) and marks the first major use of bluescreening in film. It was also nominated for Original Music Score.
Although this production is a remake of the 1924 version, the two films have differences, most significantly the thief and the prince are separate characters in the 1940 version.
 

Plot

Ahmad (John Justin), the naive sultan of Bagdad, is convinced by his evil Grand Vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt) to go out into the city disguised as a poor man to get to know his subjects (in the manner of his grandfather Harun al-Rashid). Jaffar then has Ahmad thrown into a dungeon, where he encounters the young thief Abu (Sabu), who arranges their escape. They flee to Basra, where Ahmad meets its Princess (June Duprez). Jaffar journeys to Basra, for he too desires the Princess. Her father, the Sultan (Miles Malleson), is fascinated by the magical mechanical flying horse that Jaffar, a skilled sorcerer, offers; he agrees to the proposed marriage. Upon hearing this, the Princess, now deeply in love with Ahmad, runs away. Confronted by Ahmad, Jaffar magically blinds him and turns Abu into a dog; the spell can only be broken if Jaffar holds the Princess in his arms.
The Princess is captured and sold in the slave market. She is bought secretly by Jaffar, but falls into a deep sleep from which he cannot rouse her. Ahmad is tricked by Jaffar's servant Halima (Mary Morris) into awakening the Princess. Halima then lures her onto Jaffar's ship by telling her that there is a doctor aboard who can cure Ahmad's blindness. Jaffar informs the Princess about the spell, so she allows herself to be embraced; Ahmad's sight is restored and Abu returned to human form. They pursue in a small boat, but Jaffar conjures up a storm that shipwrecks them.
Abu awakes alone on a deserted beach and finds a bottle. When he opens it, an enormous genie (Rex Ingram) appears. Embittered by his imprisonment, the genie informs Abu that he is going to kill him, but Abu tricks him back into the bottle. The genie then offers to grant Abu three wishes if he will let him out again. The hungry boy uses his first wish to ask for sausages. When Abu demands to know where Ahmad is, the genie flies Abu to the top of the highest mountain in the world, where inside a temple is an enormous statue with a large jewel, the All-Seeing Eye, set in its forehead. The genie tells Abu that the Eye will show him the location of Ahmad. Abu fights off a giant spider while climbing the statue to steal the gem.
The Princess persuades Jaffar to return her to Basra; she implores her father not to force her into the marriage. Furious when the Sultan agrees, Jaffar presents him with another mechanical toy: the "Silver Maid" (also Mary Morris), a many-armed dancing statue which stabs the Sultan to death.
The genie then takes Abu to Ahmad. When Ahmad asks to see the Princess, Abu has him gaze into the All-Seeing Eye, where he sees Jaffar arranging for the Princess to inhale the fragrance of the Blue Rose of Forgetfulness, which makes her forget her love. In agony, Ahmad lashes out at Abu. During the ensuing argument, Abu unthinkingly wishes Ahmad to Bagdad. The genie, freed after granting the last wish, abandons Abu in the wilderness.
Ahmad appears in Jaffar's castle and is quickly captured, but seeing him restores the Princess's memory. The furious usurper sentences them both to death. Abu, unwilling to watch further, shatters the All-Seeing Eye and is transported to the "land of legend", where he is thanked by the Old King (Morton Selten) for freeing its inhabitants. As a reward, he is given a magic crossbow and is named the king's successor. To save Ahmad, however, Abu steals the king's magic flying carpet and rushes to Ahmad's rescue.
Abu's aerial arrival in Bagdad (which fulfills a prophecy cited a few times during the course of the film) sparks a revolt against Jaffar. Abu kills the fleeing Jaffar with his crossbow, and Ahmad regains his kingdom and his love. However, when Abu hears Ahmad telling the people of his plan to send Abu to school to train to become his new Grand Vizier, Abu flies away on the carpet to find fun and adventure.
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