| The Carpet from Bagdad | |
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| Directed by | Colin Campbell |
| Written by | Harold MacGrath |
| Based on | The Carpet from Bagdad by Harold MacGrath |
| Starring | |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | V-L-S-E, Incorporated |
Release date |
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Running time | 5 reels[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Carpet from Bagdad is a 1915 American silent adventure film directed by Colin Campbell and based on Harold MacGrath's 1911 eponymous novel. In the story, Horace Wadsworth (played by Guy Oliver), one of a gang of criminals planning a bank robbery in New York, steals the titular prayer rug from its Baghdad mosque. He sells the carpet to antique dealer George Jones (Wheeler Oakman) to fund the robbery scheme. But the theft places both men and Fortune Chedsoye (Kathlyn Williams), the innocent daughter of another conspirator, in danger from the carpet's guardian.
Marketing for the film included a media tour of part of the set and an invitation-only screening sponsored by the publisher of MacGrath's book. The Carpet from Bagdad was released on May 3, 1915 to mostly positive reviews. Many praised the tinted desert scenes and realistic Middle East imagery, although some felt the scenery overshadowed the characters. The film is now mostly lost, although one badly damaged reel was salvaged in 1982 from the RMS Lusitania. The ship was torpedoed and sunk by an Imperial German Navy U-boat during the First World War on 7 May 1915.