Producer · Director · 1896–1957

William Cameron Menzies

2: briefs
13:00: average
26 min: in total

On film.briefs2

The Thief of Bagdad

Michael Powell, Tim Whelan, Alexander Korda, Zoltan Korda · 1940

The Thief of Bagdad (1940) is a British Technicolor fantasy directed by Michael Powell, Tim Whelan, Alexander Korda and Zoltan Korda. It tells of Prince Ahmad’s exile, his alliance with the thief Abu, and their battle against the sorcerer Jaffar — all sustained by Georges Périnal’s Oscar-winning cinematography, Miklós Rózsa’s score, and a cascade of inventive special effects. Though its romance lacks spark and its cultural framing is decorative, its visual logic, tonal consistency, and sheer craft make it a durable, joyful achievement.

13:00

Things to Come

William Cameron Menzies · 1936

Things to Come (1936) is a British science fiction film directed by William Cameron Menzies, produced by Alexander Korda, and scripted by H. G. Wells and Lajos Bíró. Set across three eras — 1940, 1970, and 2036 — it charts humanity’s collapse into post-war barbarism and subsequent rebirth under a global technocracy. Starring Raymond Massey and Ralph Richardson, it foregrounds Vincent Korda’s production design and Arthur Bliss’s score, treating cinema as a medium for philosophical demonstration rather than dramatic immersion. Its enduring significance lies in its uncompromising visual logic and its articulation of interwar rationalist utopianism.