The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

I didn’t think I’d enjoy an over two hour, silent version of a title I’d seen only a month ago, but I surprisingly really liked this version and found the time passed quickly. A brown-faced, dressed like an over-enthusiastic yoga instructor Douglas Fairbanks leads this film and even at the age of 40, his athleticism is impressive. While I often find the emoting in silent films to be over excessive, there’s something about Fairbanks’s smile and posturing that, while bordering on hammy, seems much more natural to his personality. The set design and costuming is lavish and it ranks high in the list of black and white films I sincerely wish I could see in color. While there are some off-putting racial caractures, the cast seems rather diverse for the time period, including Anna May Wong, Sôjin Kamiyama, Noble Johnson, and Matilde Comont playing one of the male suitors.