The Prince who Was a Thief

Prince who Was a Thief, The (film: USA, 1951), an ‘eastern’ (Araby‐set western) based on a book by Theodore Dreiser and, though set in 13th‐century Tangiers, flavoured by his socialist convictions. Directed by Rudolph Mate, it starred Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie in a story which picks up from Fairbanks's Thief of Bagdad the idea of the glamorous felon who redeems himself through either being or becoming a prince. Opening sequences show how Yussef, a thief, saves royal baby Hussein from death and raises him as his own. Ignorant of his lineage, Hussein (under the name Julna) becomes a skilled thief himself, and meets Tina, an acrobatic street entertainer who falls in love with him. He, however, has eyes for none but Princess Yasmin. This leads him to overthrow the ruling prince, only to discover that the throne is his by right. Yussef and Tina conspire to show him that Yasmin is unworthy of his love; in the end he sees the light and marries Tina.

— Terry Staples