Fantasy Flynn Films

At a banquet following the premiere of “The Drum”,(starring Sabu) producer Alexander Korda sat across from Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and realized his next film would be a remake of “The Thief of Bagdad”. In this new tale, Sabu would play the Thief but not the love interest. Korda wanted a proven leading man and so devised a new role, that of a Prince who forges a friendship with the young Thief. But who to play the dashing role? Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. seemed obvious but turned it down, not wanting to “ape” his father. Korda soon set his eye on Fairbanks’ heir apparent, Errol Flynn. But would Jack Warner agree to loan him out? The answer, of course, was “yes”… for a price of two-hundred thousand dollars and the rights to distribute the film in the U.S. For his part, Flynn was thrilled to return to England to shoot, though he resented only receiving his normal paycheck when it was his name that Korda was paying for. The resulting film was an instant classic and became the first fantasy film (and first to star Flynn) to win the Best Picture Oscar.

— zacal