'' Thief of Damascus '' is a 1952 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by

Will Jason Will Jason (1910–1970) was an American film and television director. He shot a number of short films for MGM during the early 1940s.Drew p.262 Selected filmography * ''The Soul of a Monster'' (1944) * ''Tahiti Nights'' (1944) * ''Eve Knew Her Ap ...

and starring

Paul Henreid Paul Henreid (November 10, 1908 – March 29, 1992) was an Austrian-British-American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for two film roles; Victor Laszlo in ''Casablanca'' and Jerry Durrance in ''Now, Voyager'', bo ...

. The film features a generous use of

stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

from such films as ''

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

''. The film, produced by

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. Ea ...

, was preceded by his '' The Magic Carpet'' and followed by ''

Siren of Bagdad ''Siren of Bagdad'' is a 1953 Technicolor fantasy adventure film produced by Sam Katzman and directed by Richard Quine set in the medieval Persian Empire. It stars Paul Henreid as a travelling Master magician who seeks to recover his troop of be ...

''.

Plot

634 A.D.:Though General Amdar is able to win the Siege of Damascus for his ruler Khalid, he is made an enemy of the State. Amdar escapes and steals a

scimitar A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...

made of

Damascus steel Damascus steel was the forged steel of the blades of swords smithed in the Near East from ingots of Wootz steel either imported from Southern India or made in production centres in Sri Lanka, or Khorasan, Iran. These swords are characterize ...

. He leads an alliance of Sinbad without his ship,

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

without his lamp,

Sheherazade Scheherazade () is a major female character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade'' de ...

, and

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...

and his 40 thieves to depose Khalid and win the heart of Princess Zafir.

Cast

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):

References

External links

* * * * 1952 films 1952 adventure films Films directed by John Rawlins American adventure films Films based on One Thousand and One Nights Columbia Pictures films Films set in Damascus Films directed by Will Jason 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{adventure-film-stub