Thief of Bagdad, The: The Criterion Collection (DVD)

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There are many wonders to behold in Alexander Korda´s 1940 production of "The Thief of Bagdad," but the most striking today is the way that Iraq is depicted. Today, the only reason Americans (and most Westerners) even recognize the city of Basra is because it has been the source of some of the bloodiest fighting in the current Iraq War. Bagdad is likewise depicted as a lawless frontier where American "liberators" fear to leave the safety of the Green Zone without heavy armor for protection.

In this 1940 epic, Bagdad and Basra are portrayed as cities of magic and wonder, the very pinnacles of sophistication. They are towns with opulent palaces, flying horses and magic carpets. We´re not talking paradise, however. The impoverished residents resent the oppression of the monarchy, and place their faith in a prophecy about a boy who will return on a cloud, kill the evil ruler and set the people free.

That´s where Ahmad (John Justin) and Abu (Sabu) come in. Ahmad envisioned himself as a just and benevolent ruler, but he was always kept shielded from the populace by his trusted grand vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt). Alas, Ahmad´s self-view is as misguided as his faith in Jaffar, as he abruptly discovers when he infiltrates a crowd incognito and hears how they rail against his cruelty; Jaffar jumps on the opportunity to have Ahmad arrested as an impostor and usurps his title and his power. Once arrested, Ahmad is sentenced to death but is rescued through the ingenuity of young, plucky Sabu who becomes his faithful sidekick on a mission of vengeance.

But this is not how we first meet our intrepid heroes. As the story begins, Ahmad is a blind beggar who relies on his loyal and perceptive dog to guide him through life. Long story short, Jaffar used his evil magic to blind Ahmad and turn Sabu into a dog, and the curse cannot be lifted until Jaffar holds the beautiful Princess (June Duprez), who also happens to be Ahmad´s true love, in his arms. Blind Ahmad relates much of this story in flashback which is where we get to meet the real star of the show.

Conrad Veidt brought star power to the role of Jaffar, but it´s the ineffable Sabu who transforms the film from a generic special-effects fantasy into one of the most beloved epics of all-time. Sabu was a teenager from India who had already carved out a niche in the adolescent fantasy market with his starring turn in "The Elephant Boy" (1937). Korda and his team of directors (which included a young Michael Powell) took full advantage of Sabu´s "exoticism," his dusky skin usually only covered by a pair of shorts and serving to mark him generically as Indian, Arab or anything vaguely "Middle Eastern" as far as Western audiences were concerned.

Sabu (15 at the time of filming) lights up the screen not only with his extraordinary athleticism, but also a bubbly energetic persona that can barely be captured in the frame. Korda had no doubt he had a hot commodity on his hands. Though the affable but generically milquetoast John Justin was the film´s nominal star, Sabu drives most of the action. The film´s most memorable sequence, involving a djinni (played to perfection by Rex Ingram) and the daring theft of a sacred jewel from a temple, relegates Ahmad to off-screen space and gives Sabu a chance to play a solo act for a good fifteen minutes or more.

If Sabu is the true star, he still shares the screen with two other man attractions. First, Conrad Veidt (best known as Major Strasser in "Casablanca" but truly unforgettable in Paul Leni´s "The Man Who Laughs") plays a deliciously villainous Jaffar, with eyes that could scare the living snot out of young viewers (and a few older ones as well). Veidt and Sabu completely dwarf the nominal protagonists, John Justin and June Duprez, the latter of whom is called on merely to look pretty and succeeds admirably.

Second, and perhaps even more important, are the film´s special effects. "The Thief of Bagdad" featured hundreds of effects shots which were cutting edge at the time and, with a few exceptions, still look impressive today. It was one of the first films to make use of the embryonic technique known as "blue screen" technology. It´s this technique that produces the memorable (and still beautiful) shots of the flying horse and flying carpet. The film also made extensive use of a partial miniatures so deftly employed they create a grand sense of scale without ever seeming the least bit phony. Somewhat less successful are some of the puppets, especially a decidedly moribund spider on a string that engages in a duel with Sabu. However, the spectacular effects combined with glorious and gaudy Technicolor and a sumptuous score by the great composer Miklós Rózsa make this an audiovisual treat surpassed by few films since.