Korda Collection (Vol. 2) - 5-DVD Box Set ( The Thief of Bagdad / Elephant Boy / Things to Come / The Divorce of Lady X / The Scarlet Pimpernel )

Korda Collection (Vol. 2) - 5-DVD Box Set (DVD) (*)

~~$27.99~~ $24.98

Original Title: The Thief of Bagdad / Elephant Boy / Things to Come / The Divorce of Lady X / The Scarlet Pimpernel
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Oscar Academy Awards
Venice Film Festival

Language Selections:
English ( Mono )
Spanish ( Mono )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
453 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Box Set
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Film Credits
Filmographies
Interactive Menu
Multi-DVD Set
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Black & White
Booklet

Movie filmed in 1934-1940 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Ludwig Berger
Michael Powell
Zoltan Korda
Robert J. Flaherty
William Cameron Menzies
Tim Whelan
Harold Young

Written By:
Lajos Biró
Miles Malleson
John Collier
Marcia De Silva
H.G. Wells
Gilbert Wakefield
Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Actors:
Conrad Veidt ..... Jaffar
Sabu ..... Abu
June Duprez ..... Princess
John Justin ..... Ahmad
Rex Ingram ..... Djinn
Miles Malleson ..... Sultan
Morton Selten ..... The Old King
Mary Morris ..... Halima
Bruce Winston ..... The Merchant
Hay Petrie ..... Astrologer
Adelaide Hall ..... Singer
Roy Emerton ..... Jailer
Allan Jeayes ..... The Story Teller
Sabu ..... Toomai
W.E. Holloway ..... Father
Walter Hudd ..... Petersen
Allan Jeayes ..... Machua Appa
Bruce Gordon ..... Rham Lahl
D.J. Williams ..... Hunter
Wilfrid Hyde-White ..... Commissioner (as Hyde White)
Raymond Massey ..... John Cabal/Oswald Cabal
Edward Chapman ..... Pippa Passworthy/Raymond Passworthy
Ralph Richardson ..... The Boss
Margaretta Scott ..... Roxana/Rowena (as Margueretta Scott)
Cedric Hardwicke ..... Theotocopulos
Maurice Braddell ..... Dr. Harding
Sophie Stewart ..... Mrs. Cabal
Derrick De Marney ..... Richard Gordon (as Derrick de Marney)
Ann Todd ..... Mary Gordon
Pearl Argyle ..... Catherine Cabal
Kenneth Villiers ..... Maurice Passworthy
Ivan Brandt ..... Morden Mitani
Anne McLaren ..... The Child
Patricia Hilliard ..... Janet Gordon
Charles Carson ..... Great Grandfather
Merle Oberon ..... Leslie Steele/Lady Claire Mere
Laurence Olivier ..... Everard Logan
Binnie Barnes ..... Lady Claire Mere
Ralph Richardson ..... Lord Mere
Morton Selten ..... Lord Steele
J.H. Roberts ..... Slade
Gertrude Musgrove ..... Saunders, the Maid
Gus McNaughton ..... Room Service Waiter
H.B. Hallam ..... Jefferies, the Butler
Eileen Peel ..... Mrs. Johnson
Leslie Howard ..... Sir Percy Blakeney/The Scarlet Pimpernel
Merle Oberon ..... Lady Marguerite Blakeney
Raymond Massey ..... Citizen Chauvelin
Nigel Bruce ..... Prince of Wales
Bramwell Fletcher ..... Priest
Anthony Bushell ..... Sir Andrew Ffoulkes
Joan Gardner ..... Suzanne de Tournay
Walter Rilla ..... Armand St. Just
Mabel Terry-Lewis ..... Countess de Tournay
O.B. Clarence ..... Count de Tournay
Ernest Milton ..... Robespierre
Edmund Breon ..... Col. Winterbottom
Melville Cooper ..... Romney (The Great Artist)
Gibb McLaughlin ..... The Barber
Morland Graham ..... Treadle (the tailor) (as Moreland Graham)

Synopsis:

The Thief of Bagdad:
The credited line-up of six directors-Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan, Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies and Alexander Korda-should be indication enough that the 1940 The Thief of Baghdad is no ordinary sword and sandal romp.
Elephant Boy:
The unusual amalgam of documentary maven Robert Flaherty and pure-entertainment producer Zoltan Korda resulted in the 1937 money-spinner Elephant Boy.
Things to Come:
Covering 94 years -- from 1940 through 2036 -- the film is set in the London-like metropolis of Everytown.
The Divorce of Lady X:
A divorce-lawyer's hotel bedroom is invaded by a young woman in fancy dress. The next morning he is visited by a peer who wants a divorce on the grounds that she was seen the night before at the same hotel in a man's room. The lawyer wrongly assumes that it is the same girl he had encountered the previous evening...
The Scarlet Pimpernel:
This film from director Harold Young is the second big-screen adaptation of Baroness Emmuska Orczy's 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel. Leslie Howard stars as Sir Percy Blakeney, a British aristocrat who rescues innocent victims of the French Revolution under the guise of The Scarlet Pimpernel while maintaining the identity of a foppish dandy by day.

The Thief of Bagdad:
The credited line-up of six directors-Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan, Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies and Alexander Korda-should be indication enough that the 1940 The Thief of Baghdad is no ordinary sword and sandal romp. This Technicolor Arabian Nights extravaganza is widely regarded as one of the best (if not the best) fantasy films of the pre-computer technology era. The title character, named Abu (and engagingly played by Sabu), befriends a ragged young man named Ahmed (John Justin), who happens to be the rightful prince of Baghdad. The prince has been usurped by his evil vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), who hopes to expand his power by marrying the breathtakingly lovely princess of Basra (June Duprez). To win the princess' hand, Jaffar keeps the childlike King (Miles Malleson, who cowrote the screenplay with Lajos Biro) preoccupied with mechanical toys. Once the king has promised the princess' hand to Jaffar, he is disposed of by one of those very toys, a multi-armed doll. The prince and Abu try to stop Jaffar, only to be thwarted by the vizier's magical powers: the prince is struck blind, while Abu is transformed into a dog. It wouldn't do for the bad guy to win this early in the game, thus Abu, returned to human form, finds himself on a deserted beach. Stumbling across an odd-looking bottle, Abu inadvertently releases the bottle's occupant: a gigantic, bombastic genie (Rex Ingram). The genie intends to crush Abu to death, but the wily thief tricks him back into the bottle. In exchange for his freedom, the genie agrees to grant Abu three wishes....and at this point, the film really begins to percolate, what with that 'All Seeing Eye' gem, golden arrow and magic carpet added to the formula. If elements of The Thief of Baghdad sound familiar, it is because the film was used as the model for the 1992 Disney animated feature Aladdin. Even allowing for the much-improved technical wherewithal at Disney's disposal, nothing has dimmed the lustre of the multi-Oscar-winning The Thief of Baghdad, the sort of film that invariably elicits the reaction 'They just don't make 'em like that any more!'
Elephant Boy:
The unusual amalgam of documentary maven Robert Flaherty and pure-entertainment producer Zoltan Korda resulted in the 1937 money-spinner Elephant Boy. In his screen debut, eleven-year-old Indian-born Sabu plays the title character, a mahout named Toomai. When his father is killed by a tiger, Toomal is left alone and unprotected and not long afterward loses his beloved elephant to a sadistic 'driver.' Stealing back the pachyderm and heading into the wilderness, Toomal stumbles across a herd of wild elephants, which the British government has long been seeking. With visions of a huge reward in his head, Toomal offers to lead the authorities to the elusive herd -- whereupon the 'dramatic' portion of the story gracefully gives way to the 'documentary' portion. More intriguing than entertaining, Elephant Boy was nonetheless one of the most successful films of its kind.
Things to Come:
Filmed on an epic scale, producer Alexander Korda's Things to Come was adapted by H.G. Wells from his own prognosticative 1933 essay The Shape of Things to Come. Covering 94 years -- from 1940 through 2036 -- the film is set in the London-like metropolis of Everytown. Despite the strenuous efforts of such intellectual pacifists as John Cabal (Raymond Massey), a second world war is declared. The special-effects scenes of the bombing raid on Everytown are all the more remarkable when one compares this footage with scenes from the actual London Blitz, which was still four years in the future. The war drags on for nearly three decades, spreading disease and devastation throughout the land. By 1966, Everytown has returned to the Dark Ages, with the brutish Boss (Ralph Richardson) holding court over the bedraggled survivors. A few scientists hold on to the belief that the world might still be saved through technology; their prayers are answered when an aged John Cabal, piloting a bizarre-looking aircraft, lands in Everytown. Representing a foresighted organization called Wings Over the World, Cabal declares that a new civilization can rise phoenix-like from the ashes of the old -- if only the people will put their faith in science. The Boss tries to prevent Wings Over the World from usurping his power, only to die from exhaustion in the effort. An eye-popping, reel-length montage depicts the technological advances made by Cabal and his ilk over the next 70 years. When next we see Everytown, the year is 2036. This is a Brave New World of automation, artificial sunlight, and state-of-the-art telecommunications. Still, there are those who don't like all this progress, chief among them disgruntled sculptor Theotocopulos (Cedric Hardwicke). Believing that humanity has been sacrificed for the sake of technology, Theotocopulos leads an attack on a missile base, where a huge cannon-like device prepares to hurl the first manned spacecraft to the moon. The film closes with the great-grandson of John Cabal (again Massey), gesturing toward the heavens, predicting the wonders to come: 'All the universe...or nothing. Which shall it be?' Though its special effects and production design are undeniably impressive, Things to Come seldom involves us emotionally. Perhaps Theotocopulos was right all along: humanity does fly out the window when machinery takes over. Despite its air of detachment, Things to Come is a monumental film achievement, enhanced beyond measure by Arthur Bliss' grandiose music score.
The Divorce of Lady X:
A divorce-lawyer's hotel bedroom is invaded by a young woman in fancy dress. The next morning he is visited by a peer who wants a divorce on the grounds that she was seen the night before at the same hotel in a man's room. The lawyer wrongly assumes that it is the same girl he had encountered the previous evening...
The Scarlet Pimpernel:
This film from director Harold Young is the second big-screen adaptation of Baroness Emmuska Orczy's 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel. Leslie Howard stars as Sir Percy Blakeney, a British aristocrat who rescues innocent victims of the French Revolution under the guise of The Scarlet Pimpernel while maintaining the identity of a foppish dandy by day. Even his wife, Lady Marguerite Blakeney (Merle Oberon), is unaware of Percy's heroic alter-ego as he and his band of likeminded masked men save countless people from the guillotine. Perhaps the most famous adaptation of the classic book, The Scarlet Pimpernel would later be lampooned in 1966's Don't Lose Your Head.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 18 July, 2007.

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