Biography

Sir Robert Vansittart, chief diplomatic adviser to the British Foreign Office in 1939, was brought in by his friend Miklós Rózsa to write the lyrics for one of the songs in The Thief of Bagdad (1940).

Sir Robert had had much experience serving in the Middle East. He spoke various languages of the area and was well versed in the old stories and mythology. So when Korda wanted to put together a film that was an amalgam of various stories from the Middle East, Sir Robert was willing and able to help them.

However, he was still serving in the diplomatic corps and didn't want to use his own name in the on-screen credits for such a light-hearted film (he had previously contributed to Queen of Destiny (1938), but that was a worthy film about Queen Victoria). So it was agreed that he would take the name of the studio (Denham) as his on-screen surname.

The lyrics he wrote for "I want to be a sailor" are very catchy and memorable. Especially with that knowingly awful rhyme "I want to be a bandit, can't you understand it".

Lyrics by "Robert Denham" - pseudonym for Robert Vansittart, chief diplomatic adviser to the British Foreign Office in 1939. Brought in by his friend Miklós Rózsa to write the lyrics for one of the songs in The Thief of Bagdad (1940). Sir Robert had had much experience serving in the Middle East. He spoke various languages of the area and was well versed in the old stories and mythology. So when Korda wanted to put together a film that was an amalgam of various stories from the Middle East, Sir Robert was willing and able to help them. However, he was still serving in the diplomatic corps and didn't want to use his own name in the on-screen credits for such a light-hearted film (he had previously contributed to Queen of Destiny (1938), but that was a worthy film about Queen Victoria). So it was agreed that he would take the name of the studio (Denham) as his on-screen surname.