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''The Thief of Bagdad'' is a 1940 British Technicolor Arabian fantasy film produced by Alexander Korda, and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with contributions by Korda's brothers Vincent and Zoltán, and William Cameron Menzies. The film stars child actor Sabu, along with Conrad Veidt, John Justin, and June Duprez. Although the film was produced by Alexander Korda's company London Films in England, due to the outbreak of World War II, filming was completed in California. The film won the Academy Awards for Cinematography, Art Direction (Vincent Korda) and Special Effects (Lawrence W. Butler, Jack Whitney) and marks the first major use of bluescreening in film. It was also nominated for Original Music Score.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=NY Times: The Thief of Bagdad )〕 Although this production is a remake of the 1924 version, the two films have significant differences; most significantly, the thief and the prince are separate characters in the 1940 version. == Plot == The film's backstory is told in flashback, mimicking the style of the ''Arabian Nights''. Ahmad (John Justin), the naive King of Bagdad, is convinced by his evil Grand Vizier, Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), to go out into the city disguised as a poor man to get to know his subjects (in the manner of his grandfather Harun al-Rashid). Jaffar then has Ahmad thrown into a dungeon, where he is joined by the young thief Abu (Sabu), who arranges their escape. They flee to Basra, where Ahmad becomes acquainted with its Princess (June Duprez), who is so beautiful that no man can look upon her. However, Jaffar also journeys to Basra, for he desires the Princess. Her father, the Sultan (Miles Malleson), is fascinated by the magical mechanical flying horse that Jaffar (who is a skilled sorcerer) offers and agrees to the proposed marriage. Upon hearing the news, the Princess, by now deeply in love with Ahmad, runs away. Confronted by Ahmad, Jaffar magically blinds him and turns Abu into a dog; the spell can only be broken if Jaffar holds the Princess in his arms. The Princess is eventually captured (but not recognised) and sold in the slave market. She is bought secretly by Jaffar and taken to his mansion, but falls into a deep sleep from which he cannot rouse her. Ahmad is tricked by Jaffar's servant Halima (Mary Morris) into awakening the Princess. Halima then lures the Princess onto Jaffar's ship by telling her that there is a doctor aboard who can cure Ahmad's blindness. The ship immediately sets sail. Jaffar informs the Princess about the spell; she allows herself to be embraced, whereupon Ahmad's sight is restored and Abu is returned to human form. They chase after the ship in a small boat, but Jaffar conjures up a storm to shipwreck them. Abu wakes up alone on a deserted beach and finds a bottle. When he opens it, an enormous Djinn or genie (Rex Ingram) appears. Embittered by his long imprisonment, the genie informs Abu that he is going to kill his rescuer, but Abu tricks him back into the bottle. The genie then offers to grant Abu three wishes if he will let him out again. The hungry boy uses his first wish to ask for sausages. When Abu demands to know where Ahmad is, the genie flies Abu to the top of the highest mountain in the world. On it sits a temple, and in the temple there is an enormous statue with a large jewel, the All-Seeing Eye, set in its forehead. The genie tells Abu that the Eye will show him where to find Ahmad. Abu fights off a giant guardian spider while climbing the statue and steals the gem. Jaffar refuses to magically bind the Princess to his will as he genuinely wants her to love him, but she both fears and hates him. The Princess pleads with Jaffar to return her to Basra, and he does so willingly. However, she implores her father not to force her into marrying Jaffar, and the Sultan promises he will not let Jaffar have her. Furious at the Sultan breaking his word, Jaffar presents him with another mechanical toy: the "Silver Maid" (Mary Morris, in a dual role), a many-armed dancing statue, which stabs the Sultan to death. The genie then takes Abu to Ahmad. When Ahmad asks to see the Princess, Abu has him gaze into the All-Seeing Eye. Ahmad despairs when he sees Jaffar arranging for the Princess to inhale the fragrance of the Blue Rose of Forgetfulness, which makes her forget her love. In agony, Ahmad lashes out at Abu for showing him the scene. During the ensuing argument, Abu unthinkingly wishes Ahmad to Bagdad. The genie, freed after granting the last wish, abandons Abu alone in the wilderness. Ahmad appears in Jaffar's castle and is quickly captured, but seeing him restores the Princess's memory. The furious usurper sentences them both to death. Abu, unable to watch his friend's impending doom, shatters the All-Seeing Eye and as a result is transported to the "land of legend," where he is greeted by the Old King (Morton Selten) and thanked for freeing the inhabitants, who had been turned to stone. As a reward, he is given a magic crossbow and is named the king's successor. However, to save Ahmad, Abu steals the king's magic flying carpet and rushes to the rescue. Abu's marvellous aerial arrival in Bagdad (which fulfils a prophecy cited in the course of the story) sparks a revolt against Jaffar. Abu kills the fleeing Jaffar with his crossbow, shooting him in the forehead, and Ahmad regains his kingdom and his love. However, when Abu hears (with growing alarm) Ahmad telling the people of his plan to send him to school to train to become his new Grand Vizier, Abu instead flies away on the carpet to find his own fun and adventure. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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