From the great and fantastic tales told in ancient Persia by the story teller Sharhahrazad, this is one of the more popular. It's called " The Thief of Bagdad." Arthur Lubin directs this movie with all the color schemes of M.G.M. and that goes with selecting a bevy of gorgeous woman to dot the landscape. For our hero, MGM chose Steve Reeves the herculean bodybuilder of the 1960s' His acting is good, but does need seasoning. In this case we see that Edy Vessel is Kadeejah, the magical Geni who guides our hero to his true love in a great quest to find a Blue Rose. There is much entertainment in the movie, enough to enthrall a theater full of amazed teens and pre-teens. Alright there is much to want in this film, but for those of us who grew up with wide eye wonder, this movie has become a Classic. Enjoy it while you still have wonder in your heart. ****

I don't really remember much about this movie except that as a child I really liked the quest for the blue rose.

When I went to rent from Netflix I discovered the versions they had were from 1924 and 1940 which are different story lines.

It was a movie that made the matinée circuit where kids could plunk down part of their own allowance and go see it on Saturday afternoon, so I expect a lot of us boomers went to see it when we were children.

The thing is this movie probably still has a pretty big demographic given the fact that many boomers have delayed having children, but MGM (which has the distribution rights) hasn't made a DVD out of it. They probably should.

Many reviewers have expressed a quiet affection for this film. And rightly so.

Steve Reeves does well and seems to be enjoying himself.

I liked the quest for the blue rose: the seven gates with the strangler trees, the cloak of invisibility, the dangerous lady in white, etc.

The special effects were credible considering that the film is more than fifty years old

I enjoyed the pearls-from-shooting-stars ruse.

Carlo Rustichelli's score supported the action without resorting to Arabian Nights clichés.

A colourful, entertaining film reminiscent of those Saturday matinees.