thief of bagdad ( 1924 ) represent douglas fairbanks and julanne johnston and sojin and anna may wong and brandon hurst and snitz edwrds and toe du crow and noble johnson and charles belcher and winter blossom and sam baker and mathilde comont and jesse lasky jr and jesse fuller and etta lee and sadakichi hartmann and david sharp and k. nambu and charles sylvester and charles stevens and scotty mattraw and jess weldon . director raoul walsh . screenplay douglas fairbanks and achmed abdullah and james t. odonohoe and lotta wood . fantasy film have be around since silent film first take the world by storm . melies voyage to the moon and frankenstein dr. jekyll and mr. hyde and call of cthulhu cabinet of dr. caligari and phantom of the opera metropolis ring de nibelung all fantastical movie deal with the supernatural and science fiction and horror and fantasy . in the 1920 and handsome and very physical actor douglas fairbanks rank among the top actor with lon cheney and charlie chaplin . fairbanks have play the heroic adventurer in robin hood and three musketeer and all role which call for physical stamen and stuntwork and charisma . in thief of bagdad he portray a nameless devil may care thief from bagdad during the mythical arabian night day . think aladdin from disney . he survive life by take what he want and living in the street . before long and he become involve in a quest to win the hand of the beautiful princess ( julanne johnston ) . she favor the thief when he have disguise himself a prince ahmed but there be other suitor compete for her hand in marriage and among them a mongol prince ( sojin ) and a persian prince ( mathilde comont ) and an indian prince ( noble johnson ) . the princess send them on a quest to find a treasure so rare and valuable that she would deign to marry he who bring it to her . it of course and our hero the thief or prince who marry the princess but not after fight intrigue and baddie and experience a fantastical adventure in remote and mythical location and among them under the sea and where he be tempt by mermaid and and the citadel of the moon . this silent film be the first of it kind and not in it theme of adventure but in it stunning visuals and effect . the production and art design be by the esteemed william cameron menzies and whose impressive career in hollywood be long ( he would design production for go with the wind in 1939 ) . it a masterpiece . every detail bring to life this magical arabian night world . this be the most colorful of any black and white silent film ever make . for night scene and the color be tint even blue and casting shadow on palace wall and city alley . the underwater scene be also tint to stand for the greenish blue sea . the castle be itself amaze and with huge and flowery door and wall . audience must have be amaze at how realistic everything appear and even how the prince be able to fly on a magic carpet or the thief make himself invisible and or how the princess could see through a magic globe . a for the acting and it typical of the silent era school of act which mean exaggerated facial expression and dramatic body language and while it appear laughable and corny today and it be standard acting in it day . even so and the plot be strong even if the character be one dimensional and good or evil . there be a little more to the act though and for example asian actress anna may wong in the role of the princess traitorous slave girl . unbeknownst to the princess and the mongol slave girl be in league with the mongol prince . obviously harbor hatred for her conqueror the people of bagdad and include the princess herself and she plot to help the mongol prince succeed in become king of bagdad . when plan a fails and plan b suddenly take shape invasion of bagdad by the mongol army . because the film be quite long and slow moving and it have the feel of an epic and another popular genre in silent film ( the birth of a nation and the ten commandment and ring de nibelung ) . this be a treasure of a silent film and often overshadow by more famous silent film of the 20 but it be a document in cinema of the early 20 and should be study in film school . douglas fairbanks be already well into his middle age but he be still do his own physical stuntwork and female pleasing in his look and charm . this be a sensational and unforgettable film and a must see for devotee of silent film and fantasy film .