1924 Silent Movie

Tonight I saw "The Thief of Bagdad" starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. The silent movie was filmed in  black and white, and while it was meant to be melodrama at its finest, I found it to be a comedy. The music was grand Rimsky-Korsakov that fit well with the overall story. The story was a typical love story with a damsel in distress. The acting was pantomime and rather grim. The special effects were wonderful given the day. There was a flying carpet, a flying horse, an invisibility cloak, and magical beings. The sets were grand and rather marvelous. (However, Bagdad did not look anything like it looks today.) It would have been fun to see the movie in living color as the sets and costumes looked like they sparkled with exotic fabrics. 

Back in the 20s, Mr. Fairbanks was one fit guy. He had his shirt off during most of the movie (was it scandalous?) and he wore billowing harem type pants that showed off his slim waist and muscled legs. The damsel, actually a princess, was veiled, but the veil was sheerest gossamer and her outfits were pretty revealing. The stereotyping was over the top. The Mongol Prince, the Persian Prince, and the Indian Prince were portrayed in ways that would not be considered politically correct nowadays. Fairbanks played the thief, who stole the heart of the  princess and in the end they flew away on the flying carpet where they lived happily ever after. 

I'm guessing the movie is a classic. It lasted 3 hours (when you saw that movie back in the day, you got your money's worth!). I thought it was funny. The story did not move "well"...when it could not logically move from point A to C, magic was invoked, and voila the problem was solved! I'm wondering if there was a storyboard for the movie? I would love to see what that looked like! If the movie shows up again, record it on your DVD then watch it at double speed...you will miss the wonderful music, but the story will move along better. You can also stop it now and again just to look at Mr. Fairbanks.