The Thief of Baghdad (1924) | Directed by Raoul Walsh - Full Movie

A recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.Show more

The Thief of Bagdad is a 1924 American silent swashbuckler film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Douglas Fairbanks, and written by Achmed Abdullah and Lotta Woods. Freely adapted from One Thousand and One Nights, it tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Fairbanks considered this to be the favorite of his films, according to his son. The imaginative gymnastics suited the athletic star, whose "catlike, seemingly effortless" movements were as much dance as gymnastics. Along with his earlier Robin Hood (1922), the film marked Fairbanks's transformation from genial comedy to a career in "swashbuckling" roles. The film, strong on special effects of the period (flying carpet, magic rope and fearsome monsters) and featuring massive Arabian-style sets, also proved to be a stepping stone for Anna May Wong, who portrayed a treacherous Mongol slave.

Directed by: Raoul Walsh
Screenplay by: Achmed Abdullah, Lotta Woods
Story by: Douglas Fairbanks
Produced by: Douglas Fairbanks
Starring: Douglas Fairbanks, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher, Julanne Johnston, Anna May Wong
Cinematography: Arthur Edeson
Edited by: William Nolan
Music by: Mortimer Wilson
Production company: Douglas Fairbanks Pictures
Distributed by: United Artists
Release date: March 18, 1924
Running time: 140 minutes
Country: United States
Language: Silent (English intertitles)
Budget: $1,135,654.65
Box office: $1,490,419 (domestic rentals)