Silent movie idol Douglas Fairbanks invented movie stardom, along with his contemporaries Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford. His jaunty grace and zest for make-believe charmed a generation of moviegoers who made him more famous than any performer had been before. In the 1920s Fairbanks starred in and produced adventure epics that were handsomely mounted, carefully researched and handled by top-notch action directors. The most magical of them all was 1924's Arabian Nights fantasia "The Thief of Bagdad." Now it's back in a digital restoration for a one-night run at the 80-year-old Heights. With its lavish William Cameron Menzies sets, aquatic spiders, smoke-breathing dragons, flying horses and invisibility cloaks, it really is deliriously hokey and captivating. Hop on your flying carpet and sail on over. (7:30 p.m. Sunday. Heights Theater, 3951 Central Av. NE, Columbia Heights. $10. Call 763-788-9079.)
