The Thief of Bagdad

"I really enjoyed this adventure starring Sabu and John Justin. The two meet the lovely Princess, played by June Duprez, and she and Ahmad fall in love. After she is abducted by Jaffar, played by Conrad Veidt, the fantasy begins in earnest. Abu and Ahmad search the seas for her, and battle corrupt kings, larger than life creatures, and unforgiving deserts. "

"This is a fun remake of the 1924 silent fantasy film of the same name based on One Thousand and One Nights. The original was a special effects marvel, at the time of its release, and this one was in 1940, as well. It marks the first use in a feature film of blue screen (you can tell in the film that it hasn't been perfected yet, as there's a blue outline around whatever object is being superimposed), making it a MAJOR milestone in special effects, and won the Oscar for special effects. It also won the Academy Awards for art direction and cinematography. The art direction is really and truly fantastic, though culturally muddled in some places, mixing an Arabian story, setting, and architecture with Hindu deity depictions. This is easily ignored, though. The film follows King Ahmed and his friend, Abu the thief, as they try to prevent the evil Jaffar from forcing or tricking the unnamed princess into marrying him. A number of misadventures intervene. Dei ex machina abound. Love (at first sight) prevails. Not all the characters behave realistically. Ahmed gains the princess's love immediately upon being caught spying on her, for instance. For all its faults, this is a good, entertaining movie, worth the time watching it. Eight genie bottles out of ten. "