So remember when I said that Foolish Wives was the most expensive film of the 1920s? Well turns out I was wrong. The Thief of Bagdad takes the cake! A $1,135,654.65 cake! This epic fantasy film produced and starring Douglas Fairbanks is about a thief who falls in love with a princess and must go through a magical adventure in order to make her his wife.
Everything about this film completely impressed me. It’s beautiful lavish sets, state-of-the-art special effects, the monstrously huge creatures, the silk costumes filled with sparkling jewels. Magic surrounds everything in this film. I loved seeing the magic carpet rides and the invisibility cloak scenes. It really impressed me and it was a splendor to see. It wasn’t everyday in the 1920s that you saw films like that. Interestingly enough, the scene with the giant ape, the guards were played by kids in order to make the ape look more bigger.
While watching this film, I felt like it was a mix between Harry Potter (sword fighting giant spiders and dragon as well as invisibility cloaks) and The Never Ending Story (beautiful sequences of flying creatures). I also like how this film wasn’t whitewashed where instead there was an ethnically-diverse cast. As for the sets, I didn’t think that I would find a 1920s set as visually breathtaking as in D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance until I saw this one. Can you believe it was six and a half acres?! What about this film stood out to you the most? If you love adventure, handsome sword-buckling heroes, grand sets, magical creatures and artifacts at every corner, this is the film for you.
Watch Douglas Fairbank’s epic adventure film and comment your reactions:
Oh, For the Love of 1001 Films! 