Rating: 
Summary: Happiness Must Be Learned
Review: The Thief of Bagdad is one of the more famous silent films. It is also one of the very best. Many people find silent films difficult. This is not surprising for they have a style all of their own. The conventions of silent acting and storytelling are unlike anything seen today. Moreover these films demand more of the viewer by way of interpretation, for the lack of dialogue creates a sort of space for the viewer's imagination to fill up. The original silent cinemagoers were used to this, but today silent cinema must be learned.It is for this reason that The Thief of Bagdad is a wonderful introduction to silent cinema. The motto of the film is 'Happiness must be earned' and this fits in well with the task facing the modern viewer. Enjoyment of the film must also be earned. With a film like The Thief of Bagdad however, this task is not arduous. Certainly it is not as hard as the tasks facing Douglas Fairbanks as he seeks to make himself worthy of his princess. This film is wonderfully enjoyable, for it has an exciting story with special effects which still look amazing. The sets are stunning and look enormous. This would all be for nothing however, if the film were all spectacle, if we did not care about the characters. Douglas Fairbanks is a superb thief, bringing his trademark humour and athleticism to the role. Julanne Johnston is a beautiful princess hiding demurely behind her lacy veil. The film also has great villains with Sojin a particularly wicked Mongol prince out to get Johnston, while Anna May Wong schemes to aid him. The Image DVD edition of this film is produced by David Shepard and it looks wonderful. The print is tinted in a variety of subtle colours and is clear and sharp. There is some occasional damage where the negative has decayed but this is rarely distracting. The film is accompanied by a fine organ score performed by Gaylord Carter. This music is moody and at times haunting. It fits in very well with the action. Some video editions of the Thief of Bagdad run 155 minutes while the DVD only runs 139 minutes. I suspect that this is a matter of frame speed and that the DVD runs slightly faster than the VHS.
Rating:
Summary: A True Arabian Nights Fantasy
Review: THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD is surely one of Douglas Fairbank's most elaborate films; it's also tremendously entertaining. Fairbanks utilizes all of his athletic prowess as a happy-go-lucky thief who goes on a quest to prove himself worthy of a princess (Julianne Johnston). The highly imaginative sets and special effects set the right note of fantasy and, in the supporting cast, Sojin (as the wicked Mongol Prince) and Anna May Wong (as his spy) are standouts.
Rating: 
Summary: Twinkle Dancer
Review: This film was released 80 years ago. Hollywood and the entire film industry were not even teenagers yet. Raoul Walsh was the director. He began directing in 1912, and continued to do so for over 50 years. This movie has been called,"the most lavish fantasy movie ever made." Some have suggested that it is the forerunner of the gargantuan modern LOTR trilogy. Another wrote,
"It is the very pinnacle of silent-era spectacle." William Cameron Menzies designed the massive sets, and he went on to redesign them for the fantastic 1940 color version of the tale.
The film was, of course, a one-man show. Douglas Fairbanks Sr., at 40 years old, was the idol of millions of young boys. At 5'10" tall and a trim 178 pounds of rippled muscle, he was quite a specimen. He also was a gymnist and a dancer. Fairbanks gave us the first peek of a hero with a tremendous physique, and this would spawn a plethera of muscleman movies in the future, from Weismuller to Schwarzenegger.
TV Guide's review of the movie included the statement, "His daringly beautiful florid performance is grounded less in dramatics than in dance." He was able to run, leap, and soar through the air effortlessly, almost seeming to defy gravity without a wire; like the young Jackie Chan. But for me, Fairbanks movements were almost too stylized, melodramatic, and grandiose. It really became a dance performance. It was, at times, almost too precious, as effeminate as a preening posing ballet dancer bouncing about the stage. His strength was phenominal. He would make sudden stops, going into a crouch, and the tableau would be strong and balanced. It was not hard to see where Gene Kelly would find the infuences for his athletic dancing style. But the frozen muscled poses often lapsed into Kabuki, or even Chinese Opera.
Perhaps because I was first exposed to the 1940 color version of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD as a kid, and perhaps, sadly, because most of us are too young to remember, or have not seen many of the great silent epics--I prefer the 1940 Korda version. But viewing this Fairbanks 1924 version today, looking back over eight decades, we are sharing the first faltering steps of Cinema, and it is difficult for me to fully appreciate its fledging art design, its corny costumes and sets, and its silly special effects. It was fun to watch it, but I was never in awe of it. I felt like I was watching 12 reels of a Monogram serial looped together. Still, befitting its classic status, I would recommend viewing it.
Rating: 
Summary: Outlaw all post-release editing.
Review: This is truly one the most spectacular films ever made, not suffering for having been made during the silent era. However, as correctly stated by another review of the film, the DVD version runs to 139mins as oppossed to the VHS 155mins. This is not due to DVD faster frame rate, but rather because the DVD version has had a huge portion of the film cut for no obvious reason. At one point, the Hero (Fairbanks) has fulfilled the prophecy of the princess and has been the first to touch the rose-tree, the next minute he is seen explaining to her (in an intimate scene) that he is not what he seems. Having seen the VHS a number of times, I can confirm that the DVD version has been brutally cut. Do not buy the DVD version, as it is a let-down with those scenes missing; thus the reason for my one star, which would otherwise have been 4 1/5 (5 stars with the Rimsky Korsakov soundtrack). You have been warned!
Rating:
Summary: Great-But I would have preferred the Rimsky-Korsakov version
Review: Wonderful film - beautiful play with different shades of colours and Fairbanks at one of his best! I think it's absolutely great that such treasures can still be obtained on video. However, I would have much preferred the version that has Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sheherazade" as background music. With the "original organ music" the film loses some of it's magic for me.
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