The Thief of Bagdad

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Timing: 1:47 (107 min)

7.1/10
249

7.26/10
1937

7.4/10
14163

All about film

Video 2

Photo 8

Actors and characters

Release date

1940-12-25

Country

United Kingdom, United States

Production

United Artists, London Films Productions

Genre

Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

Budget

$0

Revenue

$0

Website

Director

Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan

Actors

Conrad Veidt, Sabu, June Duprez, John Justin, Rex Ingram, Miles Malleson, Morton Selten, Mary Morris, Bruce Winston, Hay Petrie
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Alexander Korda

Operator

Georges Périnal

Composer

Miklós Rózsa

Artist

Audition

Editing

Charles Crichton
All team (25)

• “Baghdad Thief” began filming in the UK, but after the war started, filming was moved to California. The scenes with the abduction of the All-Seeing Eye were filmed in the Grand Canyon.
• Initially, Korda planned to cast Vivien Leigh in the role of the princess, but she refused and left for Hollywood. By the time Korda himself arrived in California, it was too late to change the lead actress. Vivien Leigh starred with resounding success in his next film, “Lady Hamilton” (1941).
• In the USSR, the definition of a film as a trophy sometimes appeared, but this is not the case. The films “The Thief of Bagdad,” “Lady Hamilton,” and “Jungle Book” by Korda were gifted to the Soviet Union during the war as a sign of gratitude for its contribution to the fight against Nazism.
• "The Thief of Bagdad" was one of the first films to use chroma key technology (specifically in shooting the scene of the genie's appearance), developed in the early 1930s by Linwood Dunn, who worked at RKO Radio Pictures. During the film's creation, Larry Butler, responsible for creating the innovative special effects for that time, significantly improved it and was subsequently awarded an “Oscar” for Best Visual Effects.