Abstract
This chapter discusses four Euro-American screen versions of The Thief of Bagdad. The films were produced over a span of six decades and all of them draw, to varying degrees, on elements from Alf Layla wa Layla/The 1001 Nights, aka The Arabian Nights. Refracting an Islamic context and influence, this collection of folk tales has been credited with an instructive function, based around concepts of love, honour, and social propriety (cf. Heath 13, 15). The 1001 Nights also achieved a pervasive influence in Western popular culture, not least for its images of Muslims, however fantastical. Much scholarship on the Euro-American production and reception of Arabian Nights tales deals with the Orientalist framing and interpretation of these narratives. This framing is primarily in a romantic or fantastic mode, and so may be understood in more ‘positive’ ways than contemporary violent representations of Muslims that are rooted in hostile medieval perceptions and agendas. As noted in the introduction, the social contexts and audience perceptions of Muslims and Islam change over time and will determine how films are produced and read. Thus, the motivations behind the 1924, 1940, 1961, and 1978 Thief of Bagdad films will be different, shaped by contemporaneous views of Muslims or Islam, and received variously by viewers.
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Notes
- 1.
Conversely, it has been argued that Arabic versions of the stories (d)evolved over time into popular entertainment, with no higher literary, moral, or educational purpose, losing their high caste status and becoming anonymous tracts (cf. MacDonald 370–1).
- 2.
Galland is said to have drawn on the oldest extant Arabic text, a fourteenth-century Syrian manuscript, as the basis for his translation (cf. Makdisi and Nussbaum 1–2).
- 3.
Sylvette Larzul asserts that the Galland version and subsequent editions likely gave The 1001 Nights a prominence it had not previously achieved in the Arab world, where few regarded the text, in whatever iteration, as scholarly literature (200).
- 4.
Susan Nance argues that Middle Eastern Muslim cultures, and The 1001 Nights in particular, offered nascent America ‘prototypes of luxurious consumption and transformation that served as metaphors for democratic capitalism’ (20).
- 5.
Mann would likely have been appalled by a mid-1930s advert in Photoplay magazine, which promoted an adult edition of The Arabian Nights , translated by Edward William Lane, as ‘wonderfully, gloriously different from the simple children’s volume […] rich in the lure and thrill, fire and passion of the mysterious East’ (February 1935, p.18).
- 6.
Alongside credited director Raoul Walsh.
- 7.
While Fairbanks had a relatively dark complexion (cf. Kapse 217), his public persona was firmly entrenched as white American. He employed make-up for The Thief of Bagdad to achieve a bronzed Middle Eastern appearance. According to a later promotion by the Max Factor cosmetics company, this was also the ‘first perspiration-proof liquid body make-up’, especially created for the star (cf. Hollywood Reporter, May 3, 1934, p.10).
- 8.
Richard Dyer contends that, in most Euro-American cultures, people classed as white are not regarded as a distinct race but represent rather the entire human race, veiling the notion of ‘whiteness’ as a dominant social, political, and economic construct that reinforces as normal and natural white ideologies and associated privileges (1997: 3, 9). In this context, white performers may represent, or replace, non-white people, not despite but because of their whiteness.
- 9.
The Abbasids claimed descent from al-Abbas, the Prophet Muhammad’s paternal uncle (cf. Veccia Vaglieri 101).
- 10.
The site of Bagdad was in close proximity to Ctesiphon, capital of the Sasanian, or Neo-Persian, Empire (224–651), a geographical link that served to establish the Abbasid dynasty as a legitimate successor to the ancient Persian empires (cf. Gutas 52; Black 21). It also offered key land and water connections and communications (cf. Kennedy 1986: 135).
- 11.
Hugh Kennedy states that the city saw its share of sieges and unrest over the centuries, resulting in damage, rebuilding, and partial relocation (1986: 182–3).
- 12.
D. Sourdel argues that the Abbasid dynasty is characterized by two tendencies which became more pronounced over time: the development of religious feeling and the increasing pomp and luxury of the caliphate, with elements of tension and contradiction between these aspects (104).
- 13.
Under what historian Charles Mills terms ‘circumstances of peculiar barbarity’ (161). Rogerson states that Al-Musta’sim was supposedly placed in a velvet bag and trampled to death by Mongol cavalry, or rolled up in a carpet and beaten to death with clubs, so that none of his blood would be spilt on the ground (354–5). Rogerson does not elaborate on why the latter factor was a consideration for the Mongols.
- 14.
Leslie Felperin Sharman discusses both the 1924 and 1940 versions of The Thief of Bagdad in terms of veiled Western political agendas and imperialist subjugation (15). She reads the Fairbanks film in the context of British colonial militarism in Iraq (15), though I would argue that the presence of the archetypally American star both complicates and mitigates against this interpretation. Ida Donges Staudt, a long-time resident of Bagdad, noted that America had not declared war on the Ottoman Empire, allied to Germany, due to the many American citizens living and working in the region, as teachers, professors, missionaries, doctors, and nurses (xx). Felperin Sharman also cites the expulsion of Mongol invaders by the Thief as legitimizing Western military supremacy, yet the latter prevails through the use of supernatural objects that originate in this phantasmagorical Middle East, as does the Thief himself.
- 15.
The latter quality is bizarrely expressed in The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916), where Fairbanks is atypically cast as a Holmesian dope fiend who injects both himself and his opponents with hop (opium), though the effect seems more akin to cocaine.
- 16.
In some instances, this manhood is preestablished when the film begins. In The Americano (1916), Fairbanks’ character name, Blaze Derringer, is alone sufficient to assert his masculine credentials, which are displayed throughout the film. Favouring a suit and short slicked hair, Derringer is a no-nonsense engineer, ladies’ man, and embodiment of US imperialism, as he negotiates the renewal of a mining contract in a Caribbean republic.
- 17.
Characterized by Nicholas Reeves as ‘lavishly resourced, exotic dramas, loosely set in some imagined past, with fast-paced, action-packed narratives in which the hero, often faced with apparently insuperable odds, always triumphed in the end’ (70). I would note that The Iron Mask (1929), Fairbanks’ last swashbuckler, complicates this reading.
- 18.
Jeffrey Vance places the film in a post-World War I context of disillusion and cynicism, and a corresponding desire for escapist entertainment (94). On another level, Fairbanks had been advised that his recent films lacked sufficient romance to draw the female viewers who largely comprised matinee audiences (94). The Mark of Zorro would address this issue.
- 19.
The Mark of Zorro does however offer its own debate on masculinity. Hero Don Diego poses as a languid fop who favours lace sleeves, kiss curls, and a large handkerchief as he pleads an aversion to any form of physical exertion. This assumed persona, complete with beauty spot and effeminate poses, serves to mislead the forces of tyranny whom he fights in the guise of Zorro, a black-clad avenger who exhibits the spirit and justice of the real Diego, expressed through a succession of spectacular physical feats. The Three Musketeers (1921), set in seventeenth-century France, proclaims an age ‘When life was life, and men were men!’, implying masculine qualities lost to the modern era.
- 20.
Robert Irwin states that Fairbanks loosely adapted the story ‘Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Peri Banou’ (2005: 93); the placing of this tale in the 1001 Nights canon is highly debatable and it is likely a Galland addition, possibly acquired from a Syrian acquaintance named Hanna Diyab (cf. Irwin 2009: 17; Horta 39, 18). Fairbanks certainly drew on the tale of three suitors vying for the hand of a princess, with each seeking the most wonderful object in the world to prove their worthiness, previously filmed as For the Heart of a Princess (1913). Other likely influences include several German films, notably Der müde Tod/Destiny (1921), which features a flying carpet scene (cf. Vance 169).
- 21.
Aspects also featured in the film’s opening intertitles.
- 22.
Volume 71, Number 4, June 14, 1923, p.18.
- 23.
Scheherazade is depicted in the framing narrative of The 1001 Nights as the resourceful daughter of a Bagdad vizier. She entertains and distracts the bride-slaying king, her husband, with a series of stories in order to save the remaining young women of the city from slaughter, herself included.
- 24.
Vance states that the film employs a ‘curvilinear Art Nouveau’ design, devised by William Cameron Menzies, based on Bakst’s ideas (164; cf. Webb 19).
- 25.
Several commentators have noted that Ahmed’s sheer pantaloons, inspired by the Diaghilev ballet, are unexpectedly revealing, not least during the scenes where he is whipped and escapes from the palace (cf. Vance 168; Kelly 221n.26).
- 26.
Studlar identifies an exoticism possibly influenced by Rudolph Valentino’s brand of male physicality, yet notes that Fairbanks had previously appeared on screen ‘sensuously stripped-down’ (83), citing a bathing scene in The Half-Breed (1916) (p.274n.245).
- 27.
This restraint was in line with Hollywood’s attempt to improve its public image, though Fairbanks rarely seemed interested in depicting onscreen sensuality. Furthermore, Ben-Hur (1925), made around the same time, features both female and male nudity.
- 28.
This static pose is emphasized by the breeze stirring Ahmed’s trouser legs and hair.
- 29.
Ahmed grins as a victim discovers his loss, as if robbery were no more than an amusing game.
- 30.
Clarified with an intertitle.
- 31.
It is notable that Ahmed‘s right arm is adorned with a crescent and triangular star (cf. Vance 168; Kelly 209). This design was associated specifically with the recently fallen Ottoman Empire and subsequently gained traction as a more general symbol of Islam. It is difficult to determine what this image would have meant to Fairbanks or American audiences in the mid-1920s, yet it features prominently in the film. In one scene, Ahmed daubs the symbol in blood on a palace wall, albeit as a marker of his access point, promoting felonious scheming over religious or cultural significance.
- 32.
He even beats his chest, like a male gorilla.
- 33.
Mecca is the birthplace of Muhammad and one of the holy cities of Islam. It is not usually associated with prognostication.
- 34.
Ahmed describes himself as wounded ‘in heart and soul’, showing little concern for the injuries inflicted by the whip.
- 35.
The Holy Man assists Ahmed in other ways, advising and equipping him for a dangerous quest, then bearing a message to the Princess. The latter also bows at his feet, as he counsels her to pray for Ahmed.
- 36.
The dubious racial politics of these depictions are perhaps a subject for another discussion.
- 37.
In the form of seductive sirens.
- 38.
As Ahmed and the Princess fly past the moon on their magic carpet.
- 39.
Number 2, October 1923, p.5. Given that Bagdad was not founded until the century after Muhammad’s death, Woods had an unfair advantage. In a later issue, however, reviewer Laurence Reid stated that the film ‘establishes a sound Oriental philosophy’, which if not overtly religious in nature was at least distinct from the intrinsically American qualities attributed to Fairbanks’ earlier work (cf. Number 4, June 1924, p.47).
- 40.
What exactly the anonymous critic meant by ‘faithful’ in this context is hard to determine.
- 41.
March 29, 1924, pp.1415, 1418.
- 42.
April 5, 1924, p.1511.
- 43.
Volume 74, Number 6, March 26, 1924, p.26. See also John S. Spargo, ‘Fairbanks’ New Picture Is Industry’s Greatest Achievement’, Exhibitors Herald, April 5, 1924, p.41.
- 44.
Film Daily reviewer ‘Danny’ also doubted the film’s commercial viability (March 19, 1924, p.1; cf. October 4, 1925, p.4).
- 45.
Brosnan argues further that this antipathy was countered by the use of trick endings which gave the ostensibly fantastic events a rational explanation, citing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) and London After Midnight (1927) as examples (23–4). Conversely, The Lost World (1925), which features dinosaurs living in the present day, is usually cited as a popular success. It is possible that foreign audiences had less of an aversion to fantastic or supernatural themes, or at least found them acceptable in a context of exotic adventure and romance.
- 46.
Commenting on the lacklustre box-office for Kismet (1930), an unsigned Photoplay article stated: ‘If there is one thing to which the American public seems splendidly indifferent it is Oriental splendor’ (October 1933, p.121). The romantic Arab, however, remained a popular figure, as in The Desert Song (1929), based on the Sigmund Romberg musical, which like The Sheik centres on an Arabized European (cf. L.C. Brown 1985: 23–4).
- 47.
cf. Film Daily, April 25, 1926, p.7. Vance cites the film’s production cost as $1,135,654.65 (315n.1), which presumably does not include marketing and distribution. Whatever the case, Fairbanks returned to more conventional swashbucklers, including follow-ups to earlier successes: Don Q Son of Zorro (1925) and The Iron Mask (1929), which resumes the story of D’Artagnan and his fellow Musketeers. While Don Q cost less than half the budget for The Thief of Bagdad (cf. Vance 192), productions such as The Black Pirate (1926), shot in early Technicolor, and The Iron Mask, which features two scenes with synchronized speech, were considerably more expensive than the Mark of Zorro sequel (cf. Vance 222; 266). Fairbanks’ later films underperformed at the domestic box-office, though Vance notes (290) that the star did not suffer an outright failure until Reaching for the Moon (1930), one of his ill-fated forays into talking pictures.
- 48.
Not least his later assertion that The Thief of Bagdad was among the biggest hits in film history (cf. Film Daily, September 26, 1934, p.14).
- 49.
‘The Hollywood Boulevardier’, The New Movie Magazine, Volume 2, Number 1, July 1930, p.54.
- 50.
The film was reported to have taken around $1 million in Great Britain (cf. Moving Picture World, October 11, 1924, p.474; Film Daily, July 28, 1926, p.6).
- 51.
Anon, ‘Fairbanks Wins Berlin.; ‘Thief of Bagdad’ Now Showing in 45 Theatres, Breaking Film Records’, New York Times, January 23, 1926, p.19. See also Film Daily, January 22, 1926, p.6.
- 52.
cf. Moving Picture World, December 19, 1925, p.661; November 6, 1926, p.21. In 1932, Film Daily reported that the film remained so popular in Japan that distributor United Artists was supplying new prints for return engagements (March 20, 1932, p.7).
- 53.
In Hong Kong, then a British Crown Colony, it inspired a Cantonese opera film, Zei wangzi/The Vagabond Prince (1939) (cf. Wang 84).
- 54.
To the extent of being cited as the most successful imported film of the 1920s. See Anon, ‘Starvation’s Banquet’, Sight and Sound, Volume 11, Number 6, June 2001, pp.26–9. See also Reeves 70, 74; Kapse 222; Film Daily, January 8, 1926, p.5; January 10, 1926, p.5; July 20, 1926, p.9.
- 55.
Anupama Kapse states that The Thief of Bagdad was the most popular film of 1925 in India and unified ‘vastly different viewing constituencies’: British and Indian, Hindu and Muslim, rich and poor, young and old (212). Exhibitor J.J. Madan stressed that the film’s success was due to its spectacle rather than its religious content, with Muslim audiences finding many incongruities in the depiction of Islamic custom (cf. Alicoate: 970).
- 56.
Cited as the British film industry’s only major child star of the 1930s, in terms of national popularity and international recognition (cf. N. Brown 38–9).
- 57.
Korda had directed Fairbanks in The Private Life of Don Juan (1934). Phil Edwards states that Korda wanted a vehicle for Conrad Veidt and Sabu, his biggest stars, and felt The Thief of Bagdad could have a child-adult crossover appeal similar to American films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and thereby compete with the biggest Hollywood productions (Starburst, Volume 4, Number 3 (39), November 1981, p.36; cf. N. Brown 42).
- 58.
Which features the gift of a flying horse from a mysterious sage with dubious designs on a young princess (Mardrus and Powys Mathers 2005a: 462, 473).
- 59.
One episode, Master of the White Mare, involves the transformation of a young man into a dog (Mardrus and Powys Mathers 2005b: 136). His baker master has him pick out a fake coin from among the genuine article and he repeats the feat numerous times for an assembled crowd, before his restoration to human form (138, 140).
- 60.
cf. Film Daily, July 27, 1938, p.13; Variety, Volume 140, Number 6, October 16, 1940, p.16.
- 61.
cf. Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin, June 12, 1939, p.15.
- 62.
See also Motion Picture Herald, ‘Korda’s First Two in United States’, March 30, 1940, p.76; ‘UA Eastern Meeting Monday in New York’, May 11, 1940, pp.39–40; ‘Korda Will Retain British Unit Intact’, August 3, 1940, p.33; ‘The Hollywood Scene’, August 10, 1940, p.27.
- 63.
A company cofounded by Douglas Fairbanks in 1919 and which distributed the 1924 Thief of Bagdad .
- 64.
Noel Brown reads the 1940 Thief of Bagdad as engineered escapism, where the ‘dissociative “timelessness” transported contemporary audiences to a fantastic and ethereal realm’, where concerns related to ‘everyday fears, pleasures and preoccupations’ could be left behind (41). Further discussion of the film’s international impact, albeit in a post-war context, is found in commentary on data drawn from a 1946 survey of approximately 9000 young Danish people; The Thief of Bagdad proved popular among the 15–24 age group in provincial towns, villages, and rural districts, which the author implicitly links with the film’s perceived ‘paean to freedom’ (Neergaard 279, 280, 284). This is perhaps not surprising in a country until recently occupied by Nazi Germany.
- 65.
April 25, 1941, p.7; May 15, 1941, p.5.
- 66.
Noel Brown cites the 1940 Thief of Bagdad as Britain’s ‘first child-orientated film that attained global popularity’ (40), though it seems there were territories where the film did not find an appreciative audience. Farid El-Mazzaoui states that it flopped in Egypt, owing to issues with the Arabic dubbing, which proved hard to synchronize to the English script (250), and by extension to the actors’ lip movements. Conversely, Campbell Dixon, discussing the appeal of Korda’s films across national, racial, linguistic, and cultural barriers, states that The Thief of Bagdad proved popular in Arabic and Hindi-dubbed versions (6).
- 67.
Veidt was a vocal anti-Nazi married to a Jewish woman, with whom he emigrated to Britain in 1933.
- 68.
Michael Lawrence notes that, while the film subjects Sabu to passive objectification, both exoticized and eroticized, ‘it ultimately privileges his character as an active subject’ who exhibits both ‘grace and ingenuity’ (58).
- 69.
The Nazis claimed that Germany had been a friend to Arab Muslims since the Balfour Declaration (1917), with shared antisemitic and anti-British views (cf. Ye’or 389). Donges Staudt asserts that Iraq became more Nazified than any other Arab country, not least in its persecution of Jewish residents, but was also the first to declare war on the Axis powers after American troops invaded North Africa (232).
- 70.
Kathleen Coyne Kelly notes that, in contrast to Fairbanks’ Thief, Justin’s deposed ruler is rarely placed centre-frame as a dominant screen figure, underlining his association with physical weakness (212). Kelly also argues that the transformation of Ahmad refracts and allegorizes the replacement of Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement with Winston Churchill’s militancy (214). However, betrayal comes from within the kingdom and the djinn instrumental to the final victory is not from Ahmad’s realm or, indeed, human at all.
- 71.
The villainous Jaffar (Veidt ) dismisses Abu as ‘an unpleasant child’.
- 72.
In The Drum (1938), another Korda production, Sabu’s deposed Indian prince is forced to steal food from a market stall; his mood and bearing are desultory, with none of Abu’s impishness.
- 73.
Abu’s preoccupation with eating would likely have struck a chord with audiences in Britain, where various food items were rationed from early 1940 onwards.
- 74.
It is notable that Veidt retains his German accent, which would have held distinct inferences for many audiences worldwide at the time. Jaffar’s assertion that rule and power are only possible through terror also invokes Allied perceptions of the Nazi regime.
- 75.
Both of which seem mere pipedreams at this point, unlike Abu’s more practical plan. Ahmad is rendered selfish and irrational by his desire, turning on Abu when the latter shows him a vision of the Princess losing her memory and forgetting their love. Ahmad even accuses Abu of stealing for the sake of it, which previous events show is demonstrably not the case.
- 76.
Abu announces that they can both escape the perils of Bagdad by voyaging with Sinbad the Sailor, who is referenced but never seen.
- 77.
Jaffar’s decision to turn Abu into a dog, though based on 1001 Nights sources, has in this context intimations of Aryan supremacy doctrine and the Nazi dehumanization of ‘inferior’ racial types.
- 78.
The djinn is played by Rex Ingram, a Black American actor. As Danny Peary notes, it is highly unusual for a British film of this era to feature a lengthy sequence that absents white characters altogether in favour of non-white figures (430).
- 79.
It is of course impossible to determine how many Euro-American viewers would have appreciated Solomon’s status in Islamic doctrine. However, the retention of this detail in the film is significant in itself and suggests at least some expectation of audience recognition, on whatever level.
- 80.
The djinn proclaims that only a hero can retrieve this object from its perilous location.
- 81.
Abu also learns he is the liberator foretold in a prophecy, referenced several times in the film and linked to trust in Allah.
- 82.
Noel Brown states that Sabu’s screen persona in his films for Korda actively resists socializing apparatus and pressures (39, 42). This is not the case with The Drum , where Prince Azim assumes his place as rightful heir to the throne.
- 83.
Some may draw parallels with Britain’s post-war decline as an imperial power and India’s rise as an independent nation.
- 84.
Wanger had been planning Arabian Nights since 1936, initially with a cast of A-list stars that included Charles Boyer, Sylvia Sidney, and Henry Fonda (cf. Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin, July 1, 1936, p.9; Film Daily, August 19, 1936, p.11). United Artists rejected Arabian Nights in 1938, in line with industry wisdom that this type of film lacked audience appeal. Released for the 1942 Christmas season and promoted to wartime audiences as spectacular Technicolored escapist entertainment, Arabian Nights grossed between $3 and $3.5 million, turning a profit of nearly $1.9 million (cf. Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin, December 14, 1942, p.20; Bernstein 187, 41, 393).
- 85.
Arguably, most caliphs embodied both aspects.
- 86.
Shaheen cites the film for mocking Islam, with lines such as ‘by the beard/head of the Prophet/Allah’ (78).
- 87.
Also known as ‘sword and sandal’ films, pepla are action-adventures with a mythical or classical setting, usually centred on a musclebound hero.
- 88.
Levine had made a sizeable profit distributing Hercules and Hercules Unchained . According to Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin, Levine financed the new films himself, with no upfront money from distributor MGM (April 3, 1961, p.25; cf. Motion Picture Exhibitor, April 5, 1961, p.4). MGM had previously released the Reeves film La battaglia di Maratona/The Giant of Marathon (1959) in various territories, including America and Great Britain.
- 89.
A scene deleted from non-Italian versions of the film.
- 90.
Also featured in the 1940 Thief of Bagdad , albeit to a lesser extent and with a different function.
- 91.
In an earlier scene, the villain’s fake blue rose turns white in Amina’s hand. While this visual symmetry is not subtle, it underlines Karim’s association with virtue, life, and assertion of benign order.
- 92.
Italian sources credit Bruno Vailati, the film’s producer and co-writer, as a co-director.
- 93.
July 12, 1961, p.11.
- 94.
Through a treaty enforced by the invasion of French troops.
- 95.
Karim’s more athletic feats were performed by a stuntman, partly because Reeves’ mobility was restricted by a shoulder injury incurred while filming Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (1959).
- 96.
Highlighted throughout the film, as when his tight-fitting short-sleeved shirt becomes tattered and pectoral-revealing.
- 97.
See Richard Dyer 1997: 176.
- 98.
See, for example, Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide/Hercules Conquers Atlantis (1961) and Ercole sfida Sansone/Hercules, Samson and Ulysses (1963).
- 99.
For a more detailed account, see D. O’Brien 62–71.
- 100.
The leader is played by Arturo Dominici, an Italian actor associated with villainous roles, notably in Hercules and La maschera del demonio/The Mask of Satan/Black Sunday (1960).
- 101.
And who may be equated with the Fascist oppressors of the then recent past.
- 102.
Volume 223, Number 6, July 5, 1961, p.6. See also Boxoffice, Volume 79, Number 12, July 10, 1961, p.a11; Photoplay and Movie Mirror, September, 1961, p.12.
- 103.
The Monthly Film Bulletin, not known for its advocacy of Italian popular cinema, gave the film a ringing endorsement: ‘As fairy-tale spectacle this—despite dubbing—is so extrovert as to be both jolly and enjoyable for those who like Oriental fantasy, camera magic, special effects and resounding battles. Certainly it is a form indigenous to cinema, in which no other medium can compete on equal terms, and this is a very good sample’ (Volume 29, Number 336, January 1, 1962, p.172).Motion Picture Exhibitor also praised a film ‘that should delight the youngsters and the young in heart who still revel in Arabian Nights feats of magic and daring’ (July 12, 1961, p.4838).
- 104.
cf. Variety, Volume 288, Number 12, October 26, 1977, p.32; Volume 290, Number 11, April 19, 1978, p.40.
- 105.
The $3 million budget was comparable with that of the recent Harryhausen-Schneer film, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).
- 106.
The Thief of Baghdad seems to have been his first English-language film. The previous year, Bedi played a supporting role in the Indian production Baghdad Ka Chor/Thief of Baghdad (1977).
- 107.
The likeness to the living Taj is (deliberately?) unflattering.
- 108.
Once again employing his intelligence and wits.
- 109.
In the final scene, with Taj and Hasan victorious, they dress in complementary red and blue outfits, with gold and silver trim.
- 110.
The use of an inflexible model in the latter shot makes Taj appear near-rigid with fear.
- 111.
As with the entire sequence, this image invokes the 1940 Thief of Bagdad.
- 112.
A variation on an idea in Captain Sindbad (1963, see Chap. 3).
- 113.
Rendered as a dark, craggy globe.
- 114.
Euro-American films which adapt The 1001 Nights in very different ways to the above include Il fiore delle mille e una notte/Arabian Nights (1974), scripted and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Eschewing many Western film conventions and stereotypes, Pasolini invokes the more ‘adult’ aspects of the tales, in terms of gender, voyeurism, sexuality, violence, masquerade, and liberation, while hinting that Allah’s will determines all things (Similar themes are explored in the Japanese animated feature Sen’ya ichiya monogatari/A 1001 Nights, 1969). Wen-Chin Ouyang cites the two-part television drama Arabian Nights (2000) as restoring diversity to the tales, cultures, and geographies depicted, while the fantastic components that often dominate screen adaptations are here secondary to human desires, as in the original stories (404). An emphasis on sexuality, brutality, and the corrupting nature of power is also in keeping with The 1001 Nights . The narrative is revealed as a story related by Scheherazade to her sons, implying a form of female empowerment through possession of the controlling voice. The Portuguese trilogy, As Mil e Uma Noites/Arabian Nights (2015), draws on the structure of The 1001 Nights, including Scheherazade, while explicitly refuting any status as an adaptation. The most obvious influences are a cross-mixing of first-person narratives and the placing of stories within stories. Scenes of sensual display evoke the Pasolini film, as does the depiction of male sexual aggression.
- 115.
While these aspects are not mutually exclusive, Majeed’s virtuous character is stressed throughout the film and becomes an important plot point.
- 116.
As does Aladdin’s love interest, Princess Jasmine, who also has similar intonation.
- 117.
The film was much criticized for perpetuating negative stereotypes of Arab peoples.
- 118.
That said, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein seemed more concerned with promoting a cult of personality and the image of a moderniser than presenting himself as an Islamic leader.
- 119.
Felperin Sharman draws a parallel between Jafar and Saddam Hussein (14). While not dismissing this reading, I would note that Jafar seems closely modelled on Conrad Veidt’s Jaffar in the 1940 Thief of Bagdad , not least his costuming, hypnotic powers, and desire for Jasmine. Jaap Van Ginneken claims that Jafar bears a close resemblance to the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini (24), who had come to embody perceived Islamic repression and threat for many Western observers, especially in America. In terms of physiognomy, the similarity is not immediately obvious. Alternatively, Jafar could be a reverse-anthropomorphized version of the villainous tiger Shere Khan in Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967).
- 120.
By contrast, the villainous Jafar, played by Dutch-Tunisian actor Marwan Kenzari, has a vaguely Middle Eastern accent.
- 121.
The closing credits acknowledge the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a Los Angeles-based advocacy and public policy organization.
- 122.
Whether in regard to skin colour, accent, physiognomy, culture, or dress—all highly subjective measures that are frequently embedded in colonial and/or Orientalist ideologies.
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O’Brien, D. (2021). Thieves of Bagdad: The Cinematic Metamorphosis of an Islamicized Hero. In: Muslim Heroes on Screen. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74142-6_2
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