Plaza Film Festival: Third Time's the Charm: Thief of Bagdad

I went with Laura, Kitson, and Jhetlyn to see the 1940 version of The Thief of Bagdad.  I didn't have high hopes.  I was actually looking forward to a cheesy B-rate film.  Turns out this movie cost 2 million dollars to make back in 1939.  And it shows.

The movie wasn't really cheesy at all until the genie came onto the scene.  The scenes of him flying (mostly done with an action figure) were painful.  Other than that I really loved this movie.

The story was great and Conrad Veidt as Jaffar was convincingly evil.  The costumes were beautiful.  Check out June Duprez as the Princess.  She's wearing a little corset and a bolero.  I thought at any moment there might be a wardrobe malfunction!

This movie ran smoothly.  No glitches or snags.  I guess third time was the charm.

On Sunday they showed the 1920, silent version of the movie with live organ accompaniment.  I really wish I could have seen that one--but I was already back in Austin. Unfortunately the 1940 version is not available on Netflix.  The 1920 version is available, and I have added it to my queue.