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Silent Film Concert “The Thief of Bagdad”
6. April 2024 @ 20:00 - 22:00
Saturday, 06. April 2024,
8 pm
Cologne, Bischofsgartenstr. 1
Admission: 7 €
Info
General:
The Thief of Bagdad
USA, 1924
Directed by: Raoul Walsh
Running time: 147 min
16mm silent film, English intertitles
Short and Sweet:
However, what begins as a game unexpectedly turns into true love, complete with adventurous complications…
Musical Score:
New musical score by Wilfried Kaets for piano and sound playback:
The music is composed as a reminiscence of the great silent film scores of the 1920s.
It shifts between cinematic-historical, contemporary, and even experimental sounds—breathing “emotional life” into the film’s lavish images while also giving musical space to the director’s imaginative and experimental ideas.
About:
Actor Douglas Fairbanks himself came up with the idea for this adventure tale from One Thousand and One Nights, wrote the screenplay, and took on the role of producer.
At the time, he was at the height of his Hollywood career.
As a laughing thief and braggart, he roams the streets of the oriental city of Baghdad, which is under the rule of the Caliph.
With charm and brawn, he cleverly uses his many talents to get by each day.
But ultimately, he wants to prove himself worthy of winning the princess’s heart and, as a heroic fighter, overcomes numerous difficult trials.
This fantasy adventure—featuring special effects like a journey on a flying carpet and stylistic elements of expressionist cinema—is considered one of the masterpieces of silent film and remains an absolute must-see even 100 years later.