Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 19, 2013
Price: DVD $19.98, Blu-ray $24.98
Studio: Cohen Media/Entertainment One
Fantasy takes flight in 1924's The Thief of Bagdad.
Raoul Walsh’s 1924 film The Thief of Bagdad, a dazzling Arabian Nights adventure fantasy starring Douglas Fairbanks and set in the city of Bagdad, remains one of the most imaginative of all silent movies.
The classic film’s fantastical family-friendly story finds Fairbanks portraying the titular recalcitrant thief Ahmed who vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler (Sôjin) for the hand of a beautiful princess (Julanne Johnston).
Filled with Fairbanks’ acrobatic and energetic stuntwork, elaborate and lush settings, and backgrounds and massive sets by William Cameron Menzies (who would later design Gone with the Wind), The Thief of Bagdad was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Further, the American Film Institute’s 2008 poll of the creative community ranked the movie among the Top Ten Fantasy Films of all time.
The inaugural release of the Cohen Media Groups’ “Cohen Film Collection,” the film was newly restored from two 35mm negatives and incorporates the color tints and tones of the original release prints. It also features music by Carl Davis conducting London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, performing a score that intermingles Davis’ own compositions with the famed “Orientalia” of Rimsky-Korsakov.
The Thief of Bagdad has been available in early incarnations, most notably on DVD
Bonus features on the Blu-ray and DVD include the following:
-Audio commentary by Fairbanks biographer Jeffrey Vance
-Featurette including behind-the-scenes photographs
Check out this awesome trailer Cohen Media put together for to promote the restored film’s 2012 theatrical engagements:
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Buy or Rent The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
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