Thief of Bagdad (1940)

I wondered how good special effect in a movie made in 1940 was. I read many reviews about this, though, so I wanted to take a look.

The restoration of the DVD (region 2) was well done. John Justin who played King Ahmad was also good looking. Started from these 2 points, I could enjoy the movie until the end. In the 40's this must be one of the biggest adventure movies ever made.

Different from Disney's Aladdin which stars Aladdin and his monkey Abu; the story of Thief of Bagdad begins with King Ahmad who is usurped by his grand vizier Jaffar. Ahmad meets the little thief Abu, who will help him to meet the beautiful princess. Jaffar wants the princess as well and kills her father. With the help of the Djinn, Abu will fulfil the prophecy: deliver the kingdom from the evil king.

Nowadays the special effects, which in 1941 won an Oscar, looks very simple and old; but apart from that, the movie is enjoyable to watch. I like very much how the dog can tell a false coin from others. Also interesting is the scene where the Sultan riding the magic horse, for I've seen the similar picture of Sinbad riding the same horse in one of the Doraemon books. The movie came out first, it must be Doraemon's writer/illustrator who drew the inspiration from this film.