Achmed Abdullah

“ It was required that a Carpet floating over the heads of the populace should soar with the Thief and the Princess above the housetops of Bagdad, in and out of high arches and finally across the desert and disappear up the silver path to the moon. I remember distinctly that not a single member or the staff said, “It can’t be done.” It was done. Mr. Fairbanks doesn’t like us to speak of cost, because he feels that the loyal effort that went into, this picture cannot be reduced to dollars and cents. ”

“ If this were done, it would been impossible for Mr.Fairbanks to have turned down the top of the rope as he did.
Among the Monsters that the hero is called upon to fight, the Dragon is a live animal, but the Bat and Spider are mechanical. The Spider is a wonderful example of the skill of motion picture technicians. It is built of wood, metal and wire, and eight hundred and forty-six different applications of leverage principles were necessary to give this mechanical spider a life-like propulsion in flying and crawling. ”

“ The feature of this production that in the largest sense differentiates it from any picture ever made is the element of magic introduced through the medium of mechanical and photographic effects. I refer to the Magic Flying Carpet, the Winged Horse, the scenes beneath the floor of the sea, the Crystal Realm, the Cloak of Invisibility, the Valley of Monsters and the Sea of Midnight. ”