Douglas Fairbanks Soars in 1924 ‘Thief of Bagdad’

Everyone who enthuses about the sumptuous Alexander Korda “The Thief of Baghdad” (1940) might consider comparing it to the 1924 silent American version, “Thief of Bagdad,” which screens tonight at 8 p.m. at the Silent Movie, 611 No. Fairfax. Starring athletic Douglas Fairbanks Sr. at his most engaging and directed by Raoul Walsh with his characteristic verve, it is blithe and swift where the Korda’s British version is stilted and talky. With Anna May Wong and Julanne Johnston. Also on the bill: a “Felix the Cat” short. Information: (213) 653-2389.

Gritty ‘Small Time’: Norman Loftis’ aptly titled “Small Time” (at the NuWilshire Thursday only) deserves far more exposure than a one-day run. There have been plenty of low-budget pictures about a black youth going bad, but few that reveal why with such clarity and compassion. Gritty, honest, occasionally awkward, this film takes us right inside Vince Williams (Richard Barboza) and lets us experience the constant frustration and despair that drives him into an increasingly risky existence as a mugger and sometime male hustler. There’s a sensitivity and intelligence buried beneath Vince’s street bravado; ironically, the film possesses the very insight into what makes him tick that he so badly lacks himself. The wiry Barboza has a vivid screen presence that galvanizes the entire film, which has been shot very effectively in black-and-white. Information: (310) 394-8099.

Obscure Lang Films: The UCLA Film Archive’s “Fritz Lang in America” series provides the opportunity to see the two most obscure of Lang’s U.S. films, “Secret Beyond the Door” (1948) and “House by the River” (1950). Both are psychological suspense films notable for the remarkable economy and conviction with which Lang ensnares his protagonist in the director’s trademark struggle against fate, but the second is far more effective than the first.

Lang directed Joan Bennett in three of the best films of both of their careers--”Man Hunt” (1941), “The Woman in the Window” (1944) and “Scarlet Street” (1945)--but rarely mentioned is their fourth and final collaboration, “Secret Beyond the Door,” which screens following the 7:30 presentation of “Scarlet Street” on Saturday at UCLA’s Melnitz Theater.

It is a glossy, highly charged, extravagantly Freudian melodrama that has vivacious heiress Bennett swiftly falling for suave Michael Redgrave while on a holiday in Mexico. What awaits Rebecca at Manderley is a piece of cake compared to what Bennett faces at Blaze Farm, Redgrave’s ancestral New England estate: There’s a creepy stepson (Mark Dennis) she didn’t know existed, an even creepier secretary (Barbara O’Neil) to her decidedly moody husband, who turns out to be a collector of a truly bizarre stripe. Glamorously gowned by Travis Banton, gorgeously photographed by Stanley Cortez, Bennett is witty and radiant in this star turn, and she and Lang, who said the film “was jinxed from the beginning,” make what is patently preposterous consistently entertaining.

Made on a notably more modest budget out at Republic, “House by the River,” which screens Sunday following the 7:30 p.m. showing of “Clash by Night,” finds turn-of-the-century wastrel and would-be writer Louis Hayward inadvertently strangling his maid when she loudly resists his advances only to find her death bringing him professional recognition and even inspiration while threatening to ruin the lives of both his devoted wife (Jane Wyatt) and his noble brother (Lee Bowman). (Threatening to run off with the film, however, is Jody Gilbert as Bowman’s housekeeper, the comical epitome of vindictive small-mindedness.) It’s a deft reworking of the Cain-and-Abel/brother’s keeper theme handled with dispatch by Lang. Information: (310) 206-FILM, (310) 206-8013.