The Thief of Bagdad

When Prince Ahmad (John Justin) is cast out of Bagdad by the marvelously villainous Grand Vizier Jaffar (German legend Conrad Veidt), he joins forces with scrappy thief Abu (Sabu, in his definitive role) to win back his royal place amid a panoply of adventures involving flying horses, shipwrecks, magic carpets, and a bottled-up Genie of epic proportions. Hoping to astound audiences with his extravagant adaptation of One Thousand and One Nights, legendary producer Alexander Korda hired Michael Powell to take over from theater director Ludwig Berger. Alongside Tim Whelan and special-effects master William Cameron Menzies (an Oscar-winner for his work), Powell concocts a sumptuous fantasy brimming with visual delight, from its storybook sets and vibrant mise-en-scène to Miklós Rózsa’s rousing score. The film set a standard for cinematic spectacle that invigorated a generation of ambitious filmmakers, among them Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese. “Ranks next to Fantasia… a cinematic delight.”—Bosley Crowther, The New York Times.
Bing Theater |  $5 admission | Tickets: 323 857-6010 or purchase online.