Out of the Bottle

Hollywood and The Middle East:

My view of the Middle-east was first informed by 1940s (only this version) movie, ‘The Thief of Bagdad’, starring Sabu, Conrad Veidt, Rex Ingram, et al. The movie is a Technicolor stunner and a ‘Camp’ fun fest, replete with a djinn, giant spider, flying carpet and all sorts of magic. If you have one of those HD TVs and have never seen it or haven’t in a while rent it and watch it with kids. It takes place in Bagdad (obviously) and Basra and in a curious way presages the events currently taking place, in particular the voice-over in the final scenes.

PS: When the djinn is freed from the bottle (click here) see if you agree with me that the voice and tone influenced Martin Luther King.