The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

 Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, & Tim Whelan's "The Thief of Bagdad"

After the rousing success of new technicolor films in the late 1930s, like 1937's "A Star is Born," 1938's "The Adventures of Robin Hood," and the smash success of 1939's "The Wizard of Oz," the United Kingdom tried their hand at making a technicolor epic, 1940's "The Thief of Bagdad." Produced by Alexander Korda, the film required multiple directors in order to compose the extensity of the film visual landscape. Production began in London but had to be moved to California to be completed due to the start of World War II.

The film is essentially a remake of the Raoul Walsh 1924 film of the same name. That film, like this one, is loosely based on the classic Arabic fairy tale, "One Thousand and One Nights," or as it is commonly referred to in the west, "Arabian Nights." Most contemporary American would understand the story to be that of the classic Disney film "Aladdin,' in which a thief tries to win the heart of a princess with the help of a magical genie. This iteration of "The Thief of Bagdad" is only differs in that the thief is broken up into two separate characters, a young prince usurped by the evil Jafar, and a young beggar boy named Abu. 

The film's primary achievement is its visual elements, like its technicolor visuals, its epic and grand scale set pieces, and its use of visual effects. In fact, "The Thief of Bagdad" is the very first film to use the "manual bluescreen" technique. It's achievement in technology, along with the technicolor films that came before it, helped usher in a new era in color film.