The Fantasy Remake That Was the First Movie to Ever Use Blue Screen – Armessa Movie News

Cinephiles who hear the name Michael Powell are likely to think of his collaborations with Emeric Pressburger and their insistence on dazzling Technicolor spectacle — but they should also be thinking ‘industry-changing VFX connoisseur’ as his 1940 historical fantasy remake of The Thief of Bagdad (co-directed alongside Ludwig Berger and Tim Whelan) was actually the first movie to ever use blue screen! Fans of The Red Shoes, fret not, for there’s still plenty of Technicolor to be found, and while The Thief of Bagdad may not hold the distinction of being the first color movie like 1939’s The Wizard of Oz is often apocryphally rumored to be, it’s definitely the first film to feature special effects on such an all-consuming scale. Make no mistake, The Thief of Bagdad is the Avatar of the 1940s, but over 80 years later, can it even hold a candle to the VFX-heavy films of today?

A remake of 1924’s Douglas Fairbanks-starring silent epic (itself remembered as one of the best classic fantasy movies), the film borrows freely from the folklore and mythology established in One Thousand and One Nights (so old school that the book itself originated from the Islamic Golden Age), with key differences from both its novelistic and filmic source materials. The film takes place in ancient Basra (a city in southern Iraq) where a blind beggar (John Justin as Ahmad) recounts his former life as a king alongside his dog, himself once a thieving boy (Abu, played by Sabu).

The two came upon their misfortunes after being cursed by the evil sorcerer Jaffar (silent screen legend Conrad Veidt) who’s usurped the kingdom of Bagdad, hellbent on courting the affections of the Princess (June Duprez) in spite of her love for Ahmad. If that sounds familiar, that’s because Disney’s Aladdin indeed borrowed heavily from the film and its original folklore, modeling several of its charming characters off of those in The Thief of Bagdad, from the Genie to the Magic Carpet to the Sultan.

How Did ‘The Thief of Bagdad’ Invent the Blue Screen Process?

Of course, all the fantasy and mysticism on display in Aladdin, over 50 years prior and in live action no less, required some pretty startling innovation to capture on screen in 1940. Just like Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar invented new science to service its story, The Thief of Bagdad had to invent new technologies to make its production possible. According to HuffPost, it was special effects artist Larry Butler who took the chroma key and traveling matte (in essence a traveling background) processes forward:

“By using three separate strips of film (one each for red, green, and blue), Butler could arrange the original negative and newly printed positive strips so that the blue negative and green positive strips would create a solid matte. This would be composited with new footage shot against a blue screen.”

The frame was then scanned through an optical printer to create a composite image that would allow these actors to perform otherworldly actions in settings born straight from the audience’s imaginations. Watching it now, it may not appear as timeless as the likes of Jurassic Park or 2001, though it still speaks to the remarkable unsung powers of VFX artists everywhere. Even if it can’t necessarily compete with the seamlessness of Life of Pi or Transformers (fan of the latter franchise or not, it was itself a game-changing CGI spectacle), the imperfect blue-screening process originated with The Thief of Bagdad offers a special treat for cinephiles and film historians alike, as every section of the image that was composited via blue screen is shrouded in tints of blue.

This means that even the not-so-eagle-eyed viewers can catch every instance of the new practice coming to life, in scenes that range from flying magic carpet rides, the magical appearance of a gargantuan Djinn, the Sultan’s ride on a flying toy horse, and Abu’s own fight against a giant spider. Every form of spectacle that we rely on VFX for today can be easily spotted in this film, making the best case for why we need more documentaries about visual effects artists to begin with. It’s their pioneering work that has allowed the blockbusters we love today to come to life.

What Else Makes ‘The Thief of Bagdad’ a Classic?

The Thief of Bagdad bagged three Oscars at the 13th Academy Awards, those being for George Perinal’s Cinematography, Vincent Korda’s Art Direction, and of course, Larry Butler and Jack Whitney’s Special Effects. But there are other reasons beyond the special effects alone for which film fans have dubbed The Thief of Bagdad a classic on par with The Wizard of Oz. Merely one of them is the performance turned over by the great Conrad Veidt, who seems to have routinely chosen projects based on how unknowably influential they would be towards popular culture today.

His role as Jaffar is both suave and menacing in every breath, while his presence, crafted from the silent era, allows him to communicate a world of emotions with one simple face or gesture. Previous credits include The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari where he played Cesare, the likes of which (from 1920) was the first film to ever feature a twist ending. It’s considered both one of the first and greatest horror movies of all time, though even that is hard to rank against his performance as Lord Clancharlie in 1928’s The Man Who Laughs. In the film, Lord Clancharlie possesses a permanent smile carved onto his face, meaning that Veidt had to convey all of his character’s sorrow through his eyes alone. Another silent classic, the film is credited to have heavily inspired the creation of the Joker, only one of the most iconic villains of all time. In summation, the man helped create blue screen, twist endings, horror movies as we know them, and the Joker. What a resume!

How Michael Powell Influenced Cinema, From ‘The Thief of Bagdad’ to ‘Peeping Tom’

For those based in London, there’s a reason that the British Film Institute is currently hosting a Powell & Pressburger season. These men changed the game with every film that they worked on. While Pressburger wasn’t involved with The Thief of Bagdad, his work as a co-director with Powell was responsible for classics like The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus, A Matter of Life and Death, The Tales of Hoffman, and I Know Where I’m Going!, the latter three of which were among horror icon Ari Aster’s highest underrated recommendations. Post his collaborations with Pressburger, Powell would even go on to invent the slasher genre with Peeping Tom, a film that unfortunately ended his career for how deeply unsettling it was at the time. If that’s not enough to sell you on his filmmaking chops, it’s worth noting that he was also the husband of Thelma Schoonmaker, one of the greatest editors of all time.

There’s no denying that these two figures were at the forefront of cinematic innovation, reinventing the medium one movie at a time. The influence of The Thief of Bagdad in particular can be directly felt not just in its visual effects technology, but in a sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Marion tries to pull the same stunt as Abu through hiding from her pursuers in a large basket (though to a comically less effective result than Abu’s). It’s also in George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing and pretty much every genie movie since with the introduction of the wise-cracking, mischievous, and ridiculously powerful Djinn.

It’s even in The Addams Family (hear me out)! Alongside being one of the most fantastical, The Thief of Bagdad is also undeniably one of the horniest movies ever made, proof for which you’ll need to look no further than any ten seconds of Ahmad and the Princess’ courtship. “Who are you?” the Princess asks in their first meeting. “Your slave,” responds Ahmad the lost king (go get her, tiger). A later scene in which they’re both set to be executed features them crying in relief for being allowed to die in sight of one another. Sounds a lot like Morticia and Gomez, doesn’t it?

The Thief of Bagdad is one of the earliest forms of overwhelmingly maximalist spectacle ever put to screen, and it was done before filmmakers had even figured out how to perfectly splice frames together. It’s the definition of analog spectacle and “practical awesomeness” that kept audiences begging for more of its ilk, even if some would consider those powers abused in today’s cinematic landscape.

You can watch The Thief of Bagdad for free on Tubi. The film is also available to stream on Max.

Watch on Tubi