We rejoin Diane MacIntyre again this week as we talk about The Thief of Bagdad, starring Douglas Fairbanks. Freely adapted from One Thousand and One Nights, and directed by Raoul Walsh, this American silent swashbuckler film tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad. Featuring Julanne Johnston as the Princess and Anna May Wong as her Mongol Servant, be prepared to have fun and be mesmerized by this classic tale retold on screen.
In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Often known in English as the Arabian Nights, from the first English-language edition, it is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age (c. 1706–1721).
Our Guest Diane MacIntyre spearheaded one of the Internet's first silent film related websites in the 90s! Though The Silents Majority is no longer up and running, you can find Silents Majority through archives here:
http://web.archive.org/web/19990422234040/http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/tour.htm
Or on the public Facebook group: The Silents Majority - Goes Wayback!
We also mention Asian-American legend Anna May Wong on this episode, so be sure to watch some of her films as well!
The WSF team recommends watching Wong's performance in The Toll of the Sea.
Recorded on 7/22/20
Hosted by YiFeng, Bob and Lily