> Alexander Korda was the first film producer ever to receive the honor of knighthood. He first began a career as a journalist and film magazine editor before transitioning into directing and producing. Korda directed such classics as That Hamilton Woman (1941) and The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), the latter of which became the first British film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar®. Alexander Korda was born in Hungary and later emigrated to England. His brother Vincent was a painter who lived in Paris, France, and later became an indispensible master of Art Direction. The third brother, Zoltan (known as Zoli), completed the Korda filmmaking triumvirate.

> In 1938, Alexander Korda had a serendipitous meeting with Douglas Fairbanks at a banquet in London's Savoy Hotel. Fairbanks had starred in the 1924 version of The Thief of Bagdad and owned the film rights, which he later agreed to sell to Korda. As film producer, Alexander Korda first brought in Ludwig Berger to direct The Thief of Bagdad, but creative differences prompted Korda to enlist the help of Michael Powell, who joined the brothers Korda in bringing a lavish, technicolor adventure to life on the big screen.

> The elaborate sets for The Thief of Bagdad were built right outside Denham Studios of Korda's London Films. The creative team was given ample space and sun with which to work their magic. Other sequences were filmed on location at Sennen Cove in West Cornwall, for its pristine seashore. Filming those scenes in the spring, the crew was blessed with a cooperative landscape and balmy weather.

> The film's star, Sabu, had in real-life tended elephants at the palace of a Maharajah in India. On the set of The Thief of Bagdad, Michael Powell described Sabu as a spirited youth who "was kind, direct, strong and intelligent." The film's villain 'Jaffar' was played by German actor Conrad Veidt, who had already made his mark on stage and silent screen. Prior to acting, Veidt was an orchestra violinist by profession. Powell described Veidt as an actor who "feared nobody, not even Alex Korda."

> Production on The Thief of Bagdad was interrupted when World War II broke out across Europe. Alexander Korda made good on his promise to Winston Churchill that London Films would produce documentary-propaganda films in support of England and the allied cause. Later, when filming resumed on The Thief of Bagdad, Michael Powell remained in England and passed the directing reins to Zoltan Korda, as production was moved to America including on-location filming at the Grand Canyon.