The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Lavish technicolor fantasy spectacle taken loosely from the Arabian Nights. British film was a major success for its producer Alexander Korda (later the first filmmaker to be Knighted), and still exerts a childlike sense of wonder. The special effects where groundbreaking at the time and are still attention grabbing, my 2 year old nice stopped walking midway through the family room to stare once the genie emerged from his bottle. The movie evokes stylistically the fantasy films of Ray Harryhausen (mechanical fantasy creatures) as well as The Wizard of Oz (green skinned temple guards). Its really quite impressive how well it all works, considering it was filmed off and on over the course of roughly 2 years, was constantly being re-written, and had as many as six different directors (one of whom was Michael Powell, whose association with the film is why I chose to rent it). The Criterion Collection release boasts the enviable presence of an audio commentary by Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, as well as one by film historian Bruce Eder, all three of whom have a strong affection for the film dating back to childhood. Everything its genera should be, 4 out of 5.