1940s
The
1940s then saw several full color fantasy films
produced by
Alexander Korda,
including
The Thief of
Bagdad (1940) and
Jungle Book
(1942). In 1946,
Jean Cocteau's
classic adaptation of
Beauty and the
Beast won praise for its
surreal
elements and for transcending the boundaries of the
fairy tale
genre.
Sinbad the
Sailor (1947), starring
Douglas
Fairbanks, Jr., has the feel of a fantasy
film though it does not actually have any
fantastic
elements. Conversely,
It's a Wonderful
Life and
A Matter of Life
and Death, both from 1946, do not
feel like fantasy films yet both feature
supernatural
elements and the latter movie could reasonably be
cited as an example of
Bangsian fantasy.
In
addition, several other pictures featuring
supernatural encounters and aspects of Bangsian
fantasy were produced in the 1940s. These include
The Devil and
Daniel Webster and
Here Comes Mr.
Jordan from 1941,
Heaven Can Wait
and the musical
Cabin in the Sky
from 1943, and 1947's
The Ghost and
Mrs. Muir. But because these movies
do not feature elements common to high fantasy or
sword and sorcery pictures, some critics do not
consider them to be examples of the fantasy genre.
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