"The Thief of Bagdad - Criterion Collection" (Alexander Korda)
I've always wanted to see this movie, but just never have gotten around to it. Joe Morgenstern adds one more tick to 'should see this film' column of my imaginary list of films to be seen eventually.
I've just had my own eyes opened, once again, by "The Thief Of Bagdad," a 1940 fantasy that I've praised before. The film was shot in three-strip Technicolor, a process uniquely able to withstand the ravages of time. I thought the colors were sumptuous in an MGM DVD that's been on the market for several years, but they've been bumped up to sublime in a magnificent Criterion version to be released later this month. The two-disk set also includes commentary by Francis Coppola and Martin Scorsese, who recall their own childhood enchantment with great children's films in the process of explicating this one.
But how to find such films when you need them? The search needn't be a taxing one. If you Google "great children's films" as I did you'll find lists of lists containing enough titles to keep a kid busy until graduate school. And the striking thing about those lists is the extent of the consensus -- way beyond such obvious picks as "The Wizard Of Oz," "Mary Poppins" or "The Black Stallion" -- even though our film heritage is as vast as it is rich.
There's no way of putting the genie of overstimulation back in the bottle -- a feat accomplished with a more congenial genie and some endearingly naïve special effects in "The Thief Of Bagdad." Kids live in a world of ever-increasing excitation (as well as genuine excitement). But we can expose them to alternate visions and alternate rhythms at an age when their little noggins haven't been completely wired. We can show them the best, and then hope for the best.
[From Morgenstern on Movies - WSJ.com]
Actually the non-Criterion Collection version is on Netflix, so I could at least add it to my queue.
