{ "id": "ep730fe2zq", "slug": "the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-film", "title": "The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent", "label": "Early and silent cinema", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "label": "Silent feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features.yr-1914-1926", "label": "Released 1914 to 1926", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features.yr-1914-1926" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "label": "United States · 1800 to 1945: Silent feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800", "label": "United States · 1800 to 1945", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent", "label": "Early and silent cinema", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "label": "Silent feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Thief of Bagdad (1924) is Raoul Walsh's silent Arabian Nights fantasy starring and produced by Douglas Fairbanks, released by United Artists in March 1924, famed for its Art Nouveau sets, magic-carpet spectacle, and 1996 National Film Registry induction.", "snippet": "The Thief of Bagdad (1924) is Raoul Walsh's silent Arabian Nights fantasy starring and produced by Douglas Fairbanks, released by United Artists in March 1924, famed for its Art Nouveau sets, magic-carpet spectacle, and 1996 National Film Registry induction.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features.yr-1914-1926", "markdown": "# The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film)\n\n**The Thief of Bagdad** is a 1924 American silent fantasy-adventure film directed by [Raoul Walsh](https://www.edgepedia.org/raoul-walsh), produced by and starring [Douglas Fairbanks](https://www.edgepedia.org/douglas-fairbanks), and loosely adapted from stories in the *One Thousand and One Nights*. Fairbanks plays Ahmed, a thief in the fabled city of Bagdad who falls in love with a princess, pretends to be a prince to win her, and must earn his happiness through a quest for a magic chest before he can save Bagdad from a foreign invader and rescue his beloved.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_thief_of_bagdad) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | New York premiere 18 March 1924 at the Liberty Theatre; wide release 23 March 1924; distributed by United Artists[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_thief_of_bagdad) |\n| Production | Douglas Fairbanks Pictures Corp.; production early July 1923 to February 1924[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) |\n| Budget | A 13 November 1923 *Film Daily* article listed nearly $2 million; TIME gives roughly $1.14 million[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) • [3](https://time.com/collections/100-best-movies/6293468/thief-of-bagdad-1924/) |\n| Principal cast | Douglas Fairbanks (the Thief), Julanne Johnston (the Princess), Snitz Edwards, Anna May Wong (the Mongol Slave), Sôjin (the Mongol Prince)[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/386911/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924) |\n| Key crew | Raoul Walsh (director), Arthur Edeson (cinematographer), William Cameron Menzies (art director), William Nolan (editor), Mortimer Wilson (original score)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) • [4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/386911/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924) |\n| Length | Released at twelve reels (11,230 feet, about 154 minutes per AFI); copyrighted at fourteen reels, 12,933 feet[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) |\n| Recognition | National Film Registry, 1996; #9 on the American Film Institute's top 10 fantasy films[5](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/Registry-Titles-by-release-date.pdf) • [6](https://morganrlewis.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/version-vs-version-the-thief-of-bagdad/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and style\n\nThe film opens with a holy man writing in the starry sky of a desert night the maxim that governs the story: \"Happiness must be earned.\"[7](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/thief_of_bagdad.pdf) Ahmed is a carefree street thief in \"a street in Bagdad, dream city of the ancient East,\" introduced as a pickpocket who swaggers through the marketplace sets and escapes palace guards with acrobatic grace.[8](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2017/cteq/the-thief-of-bagdad/) After sneaking into the royal palace he sees the princess and falls in love; pretending to be a prince, he wins her affection, then confesses his deception to a holy man, who sends him on a quest for a magic chest as penance. Overcoming tremendous obstacles, he wins the reward and rescues Bagdad and the princess from a foreign invader.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_thief_of_bagdad) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD)\n\nThe plot is episodic, geared more to flamboyant escapades than to narrative logic, and the spectacle carries much of the film: a magic rope, a giant spider, deep-sea diving, a flying horse, and a final escape on a flying carpet as the stars reassemble to spell out \"Happiness must be earned.\"[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/386911/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924) • [3](https://time.com/collections/100-best-movies/6293468/thief-of-bagdad-1924/) • [9](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924/) Critics have read the story as a moral fable in which a forty-year-old Fairbanks plays a child becoming a man, putting away childish things to prove himself worthy of the princess.[8](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2017/cteq/the-thief-of-bagdad/)\n\n## Production\n\n**Scale.** Fairbanks poured large amounts of money and energy into the picture, according to a book about him by the journalist [Alistair Cooke](https://www.edgepedia.org/alistair-cooke), because he wanted to surpass the historical costume pictures Germany had been exporting, such as *Gypsy Blood* (1920) and *All for a Woman* (1921).[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/386911/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924) To accommodate the production he purchased several acres behind the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios in West Hollywood, which he co-owned with his wife [Mary Pickford](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-pickford), and 700,000 feet of lumber went into the lavish sets.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) Twenty-two people spent eight months on research work before a single scene was shot.[10](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Thief_of_Bagdad/Publisher%27s_note)\n\n**Schedule and cutting.** [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on 5 July 1923 and ran, excepting Sundays and Christmas Day, a little more than 28 weeks; filming continued into the new year because of the intricacies of the production design, and a February 1924 *American Cinematographer* item announced imminent completion after more than thirty-two weeks.[11](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) TIME describes the film as having taken 65 weeks to make.[3](https://time.com/collections/100-best-movies/6293468/thief-of-bagdad-1924/) In post-production, William Nolan, the film's editor, methodically reduced roughly 480,000 feet of footage, filmed with several cameras, to approximately 15,000 feet for the finished picture.[11](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/)\n\n**Design and music.** William Cameron Menzies's art direction, built on [Ballets Russes](https://www.edgepedia.org/ballets-russes) ideas, produced an integrated curvilinear [Art Nouveau](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-nouveau) design; the palace of Bagdad was transformed from the [Nottingham Castle](https://www.edgepedia.org/nottingham-castle) sets of Fairbanks's *Robin Hood* (1922).[11](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/) Fairbanks hired the poet George Sterling to write the intertitles and composer Mortimer Wilson to create an original musical score, rather than compiling one from existing music.[11](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/) Costumes were by Mitchell Leisen, later a prolific director.[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/386911/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924)\n\n**Casting and effects.** Fairbanks selected mostly unknown actors for the supporting roles, believing that established star personas would interfere with the audience's regard for the fantastical settings; [Evelyn Brent](https://www.edgepedia.org/evelyn-brent) was initially cast in the leading female role later taken by Julanne Johnston.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) The Chinese American performer [Anna May Wong](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna-may-wong) played the Mongol Slave, a supporting role she made the most of.[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/386911/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924) • [12](https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/60638/chapter-abstract/525066291) Coy Watson, a pioneer of mechanical effects in Hollywood, executed many of the flying effects.[13](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F17460654.2015.1036523) Fairbanks and some of the other actors wore brown makeup in their roles, a practice common at the time.[3](https://time.com/collections/100-best-movies/6293468/thief-of-bagdad-1924/)\n\n## Release and reception\n\nFor the American road-show presentations Fairbanks hired the showman Morris Gest, who staged the film with full scenic and stage effects, a band of Arabian musicians playing native instruments, and a \"Mohammedan Prayer Man.\"[11](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/) The unsigned New York Times review called it \"an entrancing picture, wholesome and beautiful, deliberate but compelling,\" and the critic Sherwood deemed it \"the farthest and most sudden advance that the movie has ever made.\"[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/386911/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924) In 1926 the poet and film aesthetician Vachel Lindsay recommended seeing it ten times, as he had, calling it \"architecture-in-motion\" and \"sculpture-in-motion.\"[11](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/) It was voted one of the \"Top Best Features\" of 1924 by the 1929 *Film Daily Year Book*, and the June 1924 *Educational Screen* listed it among \"The Ten Best [Films] for 1924-25.\"[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) It remained Fairbanks's favorite of all his films.[11](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/)\n\n## Legacy and restoration\n\nThe film was inducted into the [National Film Registry](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-film-registry) in 1996 and ranks #9 on the AFI's top 10 fantasy films.[5](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/Registry-Titles-by-release-date.pdf) • [6](https://morganrlewis.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/version-vs-version-the-thief-of-bagdad/) Because its copyright was not renewed, many lower-quality reproductions circulated, while the [Museum of Modern Art](https://www.edgepedia.org/museum-of-modern-art) kept the film in circulation for more than 70 years.[11](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/) Revivals included the Dominion Theatre in London in 1984 and [Radio City Music Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/radio-city-music-hall) in New York in 1987 with a score by Carl Davis based on Rimsky-Korsakov's compositions; the Cohen Film Collection completed a 2K restoration in 2012, and a 4K restoration by Photoplay Productions, featuring the original 1924 Mortimer Wilson score performed by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, has been issued on Blu-ray.[11](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/) • [14](https://kinolorber.com/product/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-photoplay-productions-edition)\n\nThe 1924 film provided the model for the British-based, Hungarian-born producer [Alexander Korda](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander-korda)'s 1940 [Technicolor](https://www.edgepedia.org/technicolor) remake of the same title, directed by Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, and Tim Whelan and starring Conrad Veidt and Sabu; Korda split Fairbanks's thief into two characters, the boy Abu and the deposed prince Ahmad.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD) • [15](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/496-the-thief-of-bagdad-arabianfantasies)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Thief of Bagdad, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_thief_of_bagdad)\n2. [The Thief of Bagdad (1924), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12631-THE-THIEF-OF-BAGDAD)\n3. [The Thief of Bagdad (1924): 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades, TIME](https://time.com/collections/100-best-movies/6293468/thief-of-bagdad-1924/)\n4. [The Thief of Bagdad (1924), Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/386911/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924)\n5. [National Film Registry Titles Listed by Release Date, Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/Registry-Titles-by-release-date.pdf)\n6. [Version vs. Version: The Thief of Bagdad, Morgan on Media](https://morganrlewis.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/version-vs-version-the-thief-of-bagdad/)\n7. [Thief of Bagdad, National Society of Film Critics / Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/thief_of_bagdad.pdf)\n8. [The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924), Senses of Cinema](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2017/cteq/the-thief-of-bagdad/)\n9. [The Thief of Bagdad (1924), Starburst Magazine](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924/)\n10. [Production Sidelights on \"The Thief of Bagdad\" by Arthur J. Zellner, Wikisource](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Thief_of_Bagdad/Publisher%27s_note)\n11. [The Thief of Bagdad, San Francisco Silent Film Festival (essay by Jeffrey Vance)](https://silentfilm.org/the-thief-of-bagdad/)\n12. [When \"Orientals\" Become \"Indians\": Gender, Race, Masquerade in Frontier Silent Films, Oxford Handbook of American Film History](https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/60638/chapter-abstract/525066291)\n13. [The visible and the invisible: From 'tricks' to 'effects', Early Popular Visual Culture](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F17460654.2015.1036523)\n14. [The Thief of Bagdad (1924, Photoplay Productions Edition), Kino Lorber](https://kinolorber.com/product/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-photoplay-productions-edition)\n15. [The Thief of Bagdad: Arabian Fantasies, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/496-the-thief-of-bagdad-arabianfantasies)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Early and silent cinema › Silent feature films › Released 1914 to 1926*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-thief-of-bagdad-1924-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Thief of Bagdad is Raoul Walsh's silent Arabian Nights fantasy starring and produced by Douglas Fairbanks, released by United Artists in March 1924, famed for its Art Nouveau sets, magic-carpet spectacle, and 1996 National Film Registry induction." }