The Thief of Bagdad

A blind man (John Justin) with a scruffy dog begs for alms in ancient Bagdad. Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), the king, tells his slave girl Halima (Mary Morris) to brim him to a rich merchant's house, for there lies the princess in an eternal sleep. The blind man tells the harem girls about the recent past, when he was King Ahmad, Jaffar was his Grand Vizier, and the dog was the teenage boy Abu (Sabu), a thief. Ahmed wanted to get to know his subjects, to give them happiness. Jaffar wanted to conquer the Earth through fear. Jaffar advised Ahmad to mingle with his people incognito. Ahmad heard a man's prophecy that a young boy, "the lowest of the low", would save the people from the tyrant Jaffar. Jaffar arrested Ahmad and usurped his throne. On the eve of Ahmad's execution, Abu was arrested and thrown into the same cell. Abu stole the guard's key and he and his new friend escaped to Basra. Ahmad first saw the princess (June Duprez), the sultan of Basra's daughter, ride by on an elephant and immediately fell in love at the first sight. With Abu's help, he sneaked into her palace and romanced her. She jointed him in swearing everlasting love. But the sultan promised her as a bride to Jaffar, who gave him a mechanical horse... a new toy for his precious collection. The princess fled to her sister's, but was captured by slave traders and sold to the rich merchant. Ahmad and Abu were arrested. Jaffar put a spell on them, making Ahmad sightless and turning Abu into a dog, that would be lifted only when he held the princess in his arms. The grieving princess went into a deep sleep. The princess is reviled by Ahmad. She goes to see a doctor on a ship moored at a dock, but it is Jaffar's ship. She is kidnapped and she lets Jaffer hold her, knowing that it will free Ahmad and Abu from their spell. They return to Basra. At the same time, Jaffar kills the sultan when he wants to call off the wedding. Ahmad and Abu are separated when Jaffar causes a storm at sea. On shore, Abu frees a huge djinni (Rex Ingram) from a bottle. The djinni wants to kill him, but Abu tricks him back into the bottle. He frees the djinni again after he agrees to grant Abu three wishes. The djinni flies him halfway across the world to the Temple of Dawn. Abu kills a giant spider an secures the All-Seeing Eye. He sees that Abhmad searches the mountains for him and has the djinni bring him to his friend. Ahmad gazes into the Eye and sees that Jaffar has tricked the princess into smelling the Blue Rose of Foregetfulness. The djinni grants Abu's wish that Ahmad go to Basra Jaffar has almost convinced the princess that she loves him and has never loved another. But before they kiss, Ahmad appears and she remembers everything. After a brutal fight, Ahmad is taken prisoner. Jaffer says he will execute Ahmad and the princess in the morning. The djinni leaves Abu alone in the desert. Abu angrily throws down the Eye. He spins and spins and ends up in the Land of Legend. He is to be the successor to the kindly old king. He takes the king's magic flying carpet and Arrow of Justice and rides to Bagdad. Abu arrives just in time to prevent the execution. The oppressed people see him and, remembering the prophecy, rebel. Jaffar attempts to flee on the magic horse, but Abu's aim is true. Ahmad takes the princess for his queen. When he announces that Abu will go to school, the boy flies off on his carpet, looking for fun and adventure.