Was there ever a more convincing villain than Conrad Veidt's "Jaffar?" I first saw this movie as a kid and was convinced that Conrad Veidt was the most evil man in the world. Even today, whenever I watch this gorgeous movie, I am struck by the authenticity of Conrad Veidt's "Jaffar." He's consistently good as a villain in his other flims, such as "Casablanca" and "A Woman's Face."
shareDon’t forget, he was extraordinarily creepy as the Somnambulist in THE CABINET OF DR. CALAGIRI from 1920. (Considered the first ever horror movie).
Ray Harryhausen has stated that the villains in his later Sinbad movies (GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD & SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER), were influenced or even a homage to Veidt’s Jaffar from THE THIEF OF BAGDAD.
He's consistently good as a villain in his other flims, such as "Casablanca"
Of course, the great irony on that, was that even though he played a Nazi in CASABLANCA, Veidt himself was a fugitive of the Nazis (he and many other German filmmakers of the silent era fled Germany when Hitler came to power).
I think he was gay. Which is another excellent reason to flee from the oppressive Third Reich.
shareYeah, right. Because there was no opression of homosexuals in the US in the thirties and forties. And by the way, he wasn't gay.
shareHe had been speaking out against the Nazis ever since they came to power. He came under the scrutiny of the Gestapo and fled Germany before they could arrest him and put him in one of their Concentration Camps (when they were just heavy labour and "re-education" camps, before they became death camps) or arrange for him to have an "accident". He also had a Jewish wife.
I think they are excellent reasons for him to have left
Steve
Apparently I was wrong about Mr. Veidt being gay. I read that he was gay recently in the Los Angeles Times. That writer had it wrong also...unless he/she knew something we didn't.
At any rate, I have no problem with gay people. I only cited it because I knew Nazi Germany was intolerant of gays, and if Mr Veidt was indeed gay, that would have been among his reasons to leave Germany at that time.
Conrad Veidt is indeed magnificent in the film. The great thing about Jaffar which isn't commented on often is that his villain actually isn't entirely one-dimensional. There's that bit where he tells June Duprez that if he wanted to he could hypnotize her and make her forget her love but he wants her real love. When I saw that bit, I was actually saying "you silly girl drop the bland John Justin and jump in with intense and sexy Jaffar".
His love for her is actually greater than King Ahmad's and there might be a great deal of truth about him saying that their love is essentially puppy love. Let's face it, their romance(the King and the Princess) is not very convincing.
On the other hand, I hated his guts in the bit where he humiliates Sabu(the hero of the film) and turns him into a dog. That humiliation bit is pretty hard for me to see but in the last bit, Sabu flies in on a carpet(way cooler than that silly horse) and splits Jaffar's skull with an arrow. Revenge is indeed a dish best served cold.
"Ça va by me, madame...Ça va by me!" - The Red Shoes
Ah, but Ahmad and the Princess do have that lovely romantic exchange in the garden
Princess: Where do you come from?
Ahmad: From the beginning of Time.
Princess: How long have you been looking for me?
Ahmad: Since the beginning of Time.
Princess: Now that you've found me, how long will you stay?
Ahmad: To the end of Time.
Repeated when he wakes her from her enchanted sleep
Steve
Suit yourself. I remain unimpressed by that.
In those scenes I was too busy admiring June Duprez(who is very lovely in the film) to look or hear at John Justin was saying.
"Ça va by me, madame...Ça va by me!" - The Red Shoes
Yes I agree...that dialogue gets me every time. Such a fine line between corny and profound. That dialogue was deeply moving, every word of it.
shareI am watching it right now and I totally agree - those lines and the love scenes between John Justin and June Duprez are are beautiful, moving and very romantic.
Those who think that the Princess should choose Jaffar do not see this film with a clear eye - he isn't just a "bad boy" - he is evil incarnate - and I love Veidt's performance..
Conrad Veidt - best baddie ever, what a guy! Agree about the dialogue between Justin and Duprez, it's great, but the earlier poster didn't get it quite right, it is:
Princess: Where have you come from?
Ahmed: From the other side of time, to find you...
Princess: How long have you been searching?
Ahmed: Since time began.
Princess: Now that you've found me, how long will you stay?
Ahmed: Till the end of time...
Love it! He's got some chat-up lines, I'll give him that, and they do make a cute couple... although he does look like he could be in the band 'Sparks'. This was my favourite film as a kid, and I still love it. Surprised John Justin and June Duprez didn't do more. She was gorgeous and he was good in this and The Sound Barrier.
"Lacrosse...?"
"...La double-cross!"
I was actually saying "you silly girl drop the bland John Justin and jump in with intense and sexy Jaffar".Anyone who admires Veidt's acting and (as another commenter remarked) "pulchritudinousness" must try to see him in Powell & Pressburger's Contraband. He is all charm and sophistication and flirtatiousness, without losing his unique "edge" of potential danger. It is such a delight to see him banter with a contemporary woman!
When I saw that bit, I was actually saying "you silly girl drop the bland John Justin and jump in with intense and sexy Jaffar"I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. I've always wanted to say to the Princes, "Drop the drippy guy for Jafar!"
You are so not alone, when he tells her that he could force her to his will but he wanted her to love him without magic...(paraphrasing). I totally loved him. I would have taken him over Ahmed in a minute.
He does play an excellent bad guy, in this movie I saw his brillant blue eyes for the first time. Everything else I had seen was in Black and White.
Ironically, I watched a featurette about him on TCM and he was apparently as nice in real life as he was mean in films.
Mr. Veidt also appeared in a great little film with Joan Crawford called "A Woman's Face." He was again the epitome of charm, sophistication and education...as well as displaying the evil forces behind these virtues.
shareJust saw A WOMAN'S FACE for the first time. Bravo for Joan Crawford and especially Conrad Veidt! The movie probably has the best horse sleigh chase scene hands down!
share"you silly girl drop the bland John Justin and jump in with intense and sexy Jaffar"
Ha, exactly my thought! Ahmad is a complete nonentity in comparison. None too great shakes at acting either.
Happy birthday Conrad
Steve
When I saw that bit, I was actually saying "you silly girl drop the bland John Justin and jump in with intense and sexy Jaffar"
*Whew!* Glad I'm apparently not alone in thinking Conrad Veidt's Jaffar was about the hottest thing next to the desert!
Yep - so many "villians" can come across to us girls as so desireable - what's a little evil when the guy is handsome, intelligent, rich? LOL!! Better still if his "good guy" rival is bland in comparison, AND if said "villian" has some capacity and/or need for love as was Jaffar's case, imho.
The film was visually stunning all the way around; just BEAUTIFUL color! But the only reason I watched this was to see Conrad Veidt in color after seeing a still photo of him as Jaffar and his gorgeous blue eyes! As cool and atmospheric as black & white film is, you don't get to see stuff like that (same with Charlie Chaplin who also had striking blue eyes).
I loved Veidt as Gwynplaine as well; what a wonderful acting job that was - no, more than that: what a wonderful actor HE was! :-)
"Think slow, act fast." --Buster Keaton
Oh, good, I'm happy to know I'm not the only one who loves Conrad as Jaffar and would have picked him over the bland prince.
Conrad was indeed a brilliant actor, and it shows in a quote of his about his craft, "It is precisely as if I am possessed by some other spirit when I enter on a new task of acting, as though something within me presses a switch and my own consciousness merges into some other, greater, more vital being."
As someone who's in theater (playwright and actress), that's exactly what it's like, or should be like. Bravo, Conrad.
And yes, he's such a sweetheart as Gwynplaine! The scene where Dea feels his face and accepts him for who he is (like we knew she would the whole time) is just beautiful. You can see that he's genuinely happy in that scene. And it's so romantic how he sweeps her off her feet into his arms and carries her into the caravan! But then, of course, it cuts to the next morning. Makes me wonder what they were trying to hint at there.
Nevermore!
Food for thought!!! Conrad as Darth Fader?
shareMr. Veidt was perfect!
shareMy favorite too! No matter how evil he was, he turned me on too! In fact I see him as the first horror film actor Ever. Because in his german days, he made a bunch of not well known films around horror themes as Jekyll/Hyde in "Der Januskopf" and his own directed "Wahnsinn" (Insanity) and "Waxworks", but most of them are forever lost. He passed away way too early:
Nice thread with that feeling of love for someone, that we ALL SHARE!
An absolutely first-class villain. An evil genius. Totally detestable and at the same time admirable in his shrewd schemes and stylishness. There is a a love/hate thing about him. Sadly, Cinema doesn't produce villains like this one any more. Cinema nowadays is dead. Cartoonish villains, CGI fakes and PC censorship. A total disgrace!
Multi-faceted, perhaps sexy villains are not totally dead. Just expand your net whilst looking.
How 'bout Billy Bob Thornton as Lorne Malvo in the TV mini-series "Fargo,"Season One?
He was also riveting in the 1940 version of Jud Suess, re-titled "Power."
The end of that movie is especially horrifying and sad.
Casablanca and The Thief of Baghdad are two of my all-time favourite films and Conrad Veidt one of the great screen villains. He is just brilliant as Jaffar, a classic hissable bad guy.
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