Drawn from The Arabian Nights and based on the 1924 Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckler of the same name, this lavish enterprise from producer Alexander Korda reveled in the brave new visual world that The Wizard of Oz explored only the year before. The epic story follows unfairly deposed prince Ahmad (John Justin) and his loyal companion, the thief Abu (a delightful Sabu). As they embark on a perilous adventure to reclaim the throne from the evil Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), the pair encounters all types of mystical, dangerous creatures. A combination of soundstage sets and matte paintings create a Bagdad consisting of endless blue buildings. An early version of blue and green-screen technology enables horses and carpets to fly (look closely and you’ll catch a blue glow around the images). One of the movies most iconic images, however, comes courtesy of an old-fashioned camera trick. By filming Sabu separately from a malevolent genie, the producers make the genie (Rex Ingram) look hundreds of feet tall. No one could claim that the movie’s tricks hold up to today’s standards, yet there is something undeniably enchanting about watching someone manage, for the first time, to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
