Lo sceicco

There are silents which still make many today's viewers overwhelmed, including productions on grand scale: the ones of stunning visuals and top notch performances. There are "lost" silents which have been a longstanding dream to see by many but the likelihood for finding them is constantly declining. There are also silents which were meant to entertain and they did serve their purpose in the distant past but do not do that any longer. They have simply failed to stand a test of time. Unfortunately, THE SHEIK, from my point of view, appears to direct towards the latest group but surely does not turn out to be "totally dated" or "unwatchable" Let me analyze the movie in more details.

The content is hardly convincing for today's cinema buffs, for the general audience. An English woman Diana Fayo (Agnes Ayres) badly desires freedom since she perceives male-female relation bounds as humiliating and marriage as captivity. She goes for a trip to the Arab city of Biskra hoping for freeing herself from the old bounds of dated tradition and humiliating dependence. Moreover, having met the powerful Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan (Rudolph Valentino) whose slightest wish is law among his people, she takes a trip into the sun garden of the sand, the desert. However, what she is exposed to appears to be absolutely on the contrary to her expectations. She gets into a "more tragic captivity" where no one is likely to find her whereabouts. Sheik Ahmed, who was to be a liberator, is not accustomed to having his orders disobeyed and Diana is not accustomed to obeying orders. What can happen in such unwelcome circumstances?

Although the action is pretty unpredictable, today's viewers will not watch the movie for the sake of wondering what will happen. It does not absorb us as much as it absorbed the viewers in the 1920s. The visuals are also far from masterwork and some scenes are pretty boring and tedious. Therefore, we could easily say that THE SHEIK is too seriously dated. But many people would not agree with that opinion. What constitutes the movie's great success still today are the two CAST: one is a symbol, the other one is a beauty.

Rudolph Valentino just after his masterpiece, THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE which had premiered in March 1921 and which had introduced him to stardom, was cast in this movie of exotic title and exotic content. He is not a tango dancer nor a soldier for "foreign" France but a sheik. But this is far from his best performance and it is mostly based on pantomime and, from today's perspective, exaggerated mimics. Yet, the presence alone of the silent era symbol made this movie in 1921 and makes it even now in 2007 worth seeing. There must have been interest in this movie since a few years later a sequel THE SON OF THE SHEIK (1926) was made, being at the same time Rudolph's last film. The other person on whose shoulders lies the success of the film is beautiful Agnes Ayres. In fact, she does a much better job as Diana Fayo. She IS a desire incarnate for Valentino and occurs to be very subtle, beautiful, tender - a sort of woman every man would fight for.

"Pale hands I love,

Beside the Shalimar,

Where are you now,

Who lies beneath your spell"

Yes, the sheik is totally "bewitched" by Diana and Valentino appears to be in love with Ayres. However, there is no such powerful chemistry between the couple like in some other movies of the time. They do good jobs apart from each other.

To give you a deeply genuine opinion, I quite enjoyed THE SHEIK but if it had been my first silent, I would not be a silent buff now. What is more, if it had been my first Valentino movie, I would wonder how he could become such a great star. An average movie mostly for silent buffs when you are deeply in the silent era reality. 6/10

Sheik, The (1921)

*** (out of 4)

Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan (Rudolph Valentino) is accustom to having his wishes fulfilled by whoever he asks but he gets a challenge from an English woman (Agnes Ayres) who is more freewheeling and doesn't believe that a man owns a woman. The Sheik eventually kidnaps the woman, forcing her to his retreat in the desert where he slowly tries to force his will on her. This film has certainly become one of the landmarks of cinema as it created a brand new type of sex symbol and it forever made a legend out of star Valentino. It's strange because I really enjoyed this movie yet I really can't say why I did because there's so many negative things in the movie. For starters, you could easily call this movie both sexist and racist yet I guess no one in 1921 cared. I guess the woman who made this movie a hit didn't mind the fact that the Sheik was not only a kidnapper but also a rapist and an all around bad guy. I guess a little dark side didn't turn anyone off. I'm rather amazed at watching this film that it was such a hit and that women would drop head over hills for a man like the character here. I really don't know what it was but I guess Valentino managed to put a spell on the women in the crowd just like his character in the film. I will add that I've seen several Valentino pictures before and after them and the majority of them feature a better performance but I guess that really doesn't matter too much. I found Valentino here to be way over-the-top during certain scenes but this might be due to the rather poor direction. We have way too many silly shots of Valentino giving silly looks at the camera and it's easy to see why some critics attacked this film in 1921 because shots like these do make it come off campy. Valentino certainly knows how to play up the sex appeal but again, I'm still somewhat shocked this went over so well with women. Ayres isn't all that impressive as the female lead but we do get strong supporting performances by Adolphe Menjoy, Walter Long and Lucien Littlefield. I've read different reports of where the exteriors shots were actually filmed but wherever they were they do look terrific and add a lot to the film. The tints on the print I viewed also helped things quite a bit. I'm not sure what movie people in 2010 will make of this movie but I'm sure many would either laugh it off or be offended by it. I'm really not sure why it kept me entertained so but I had a pleasant time with the picture no matter how many flaws it did have.

"The Sheik" was the movie that catapulted Rudolph Valentino to stardom. I just saw it recently for the first time. It holds up rather well within the context of its story.

The story involves London socialite Lady Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayres) setting off on an adventure across the desert. When her caravan is attacked by bandits and her brother (Frank Butler) killed, she is rescued by Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassen (Valentino, who carries her off to his camp intending to make her the latest of his many conquests. With the influence and advice from his friend Raoul (Adolph Menjou) the Sheik comes to respect her and they ultimately fall in love. But when she doubts his intentions, Lady Di runs off into the desert and is captured by Omair the Bandit (Walter Long). Rudy of course rides to the rescue and the lovers ride off into the desert to live happily ever after.

It is easy to see why the ladies swooned over Valentino. He did cut a dashing figure on the screen and his hypnotic stare was to become his trademark. Both Valentino and Ayres would reprise their roles in "Son of the Sheik" (1926), Valentino's final film.

Lucien Littlefield who plays Gaston the Sheik's valet, stuck around for many years. He wound up playing a variety of roles for Republic Pictures in "B" westerns. Menjou, who actually WAS young at one time had a long and prosperous career playing mature sophisticated gentlemen.

THE SHEIK (Paramount, 1921), directed by George Melford, taken from the source material of Edith Maude Hull's daring novel, stars silent screen legend Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) in one of his most acclaimed performances. Following the great success of THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (Metro, 1921), it was his role of Ahmed Ben Hassan that elevated Valentino's status to popular leading man. Cast opposite Agnes Ayres, a name virtually forgotten among popular silent film stars, this is one for which she's best known solely due to the presence of Valentino, if not much else.

Starting off with a proverb (credited to Oliver Wendall Holmes), "Mohammed's land - where saint and sinner chant as one, their praise to Allah - bowing low beneath a desert sun" and subsequent inter-titles, "Allah is Allah - there is no God but Allah," before the story gets underway with the introduction of Ahmed Ben Hassan (Rudolph Valentino) a rich tribal prince "whose shoulders has fallen the heritage of leadership," choosing a maiden at the marriage market. Choosing Zilah (Ruth Miller), he returns her to Yousef (Charles Wagener), a tribal chieftain who loves her. Also there is an observant tourist, Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayres), an "orphaned daughter of an English poet," whose free spirited ways has her both refusing a marriage proposal from a young man ("marriage is captivity" she says), and going against the wishes of her brother, Sir Aubrey (Frank R. Butler), in favor of traveling through the Sahara desert alone with camel riding Arabs headed by Mustapha Ali (Charles Brindley), a tour guide. In Biskra, "gateway to the desert, city of adventure" Diana is insulted when refused admittance into a casino ("The Monte Carlo of the Sahara") that is, under Ben Hassan's rule, reserved only for Arabs. In protest, Diana enters, disguised as one of the slave girls. With her revealed white hands giving her away, Hassan escorts the phony slave girl out. Learning about her travels through the desert the following morning, Hassan abducts Diana against her will, keeping her captive in his palace tent. Unable to break away through the violent sand storm, she does make her escape from his camp only to be rescued by Hassan in time from the abduction by Omair (Walter Long) and his bandits. Learning that Raoul DeSaint Hubert (Adolphe Menjou), a famous French novelist and close friend of Hassan, is coming for a visit, Diana, fearing the humiliation of meeting "a man from her own world" to see her as the sheik's prisoner, is forced to act proper during his stay. It is Hubert who insists on Diana's freedom and return to Biskra. As Hassan agrees on releasing her, he discovers Diana gone, abducted by the rival tribe.

At first glance, THE SHEIK gives the impression of being a throwback from the Theda Bara era from the 1910s, ranging from Agnes Ayres overactive emotions to Valentino's suggestive eye gestures. After repeated viewing, it becomes acceptable in that manner, especially how everything comes together through its primitive acting style. Not exactly "The Sheik of Araby," Valentino's Sheik is educated, having acquired lasting friendship between Gaston, his valet (Lucien Littlefield) and noted poet (Adolphe Menjou) during his stay in Paris. His Hassan sings the Stephen Foster song, "Beautiful Dreamer" whenever happy and is seen smoking cigarettes in the process. For his cultural background perspective, he usually gets what he wants, especially the woman of his choice. The big moment occurs when he abducts one outside his race, the liberated English Diana who addresses him as a "desert savage bandit." This scene alone is one of its true highlights, especially for 1921. For those familiar with Adolphe Menjou (1890-1963), and his countless roles during the sound era, it's interesting finding him in a silent movie so early in his career. Very thin with unmistakable mustache trademark, he's almost unrecognizable through his advanced aging process with slightly white hair and heavy makeup over his eyelids.

As popular as THE SHEIK was back in the day, there never was a remake, only a sequel titled THE SON OF THE SHEIK (United Artists, 1926) that not only marked the turning point in Valentino's career, in a dual role of both father and son, but his final screen performance as well, having died shortly after its theatrical premiere. Had THE SHEIK been put under consideration as a remake in the 1930s, no doubt that Ricardo Cortez, who bears a near striking resemblance to Valentino, might have inherited the role, with my take on Kay Francis playing Diana Mayo. As legend has it, there's only one sheik, and that's Valentino. Interestingly, while THE SON OF THE SHEIK did have more exposure than its predecessor, ranging from television broadcasts and home video, THE SHEIK finally turned up on cable television's American Movie Classics where it frequently aired from 1990 to 1999. Former AMC host once commented during its April 9, 1990 premiere presentation of THE SHEIK as being the station's first silent film broadcast.

With several video distributions of THE SHEIK, two 1999 releases are worth noting: one from Paramount home video with the orchestral and chanting score by Roger Bellon, and other from Gravevine Video with agreeable piano scoring. The Paramount edition with Bellon score is most commonly available, and one used for both AMC and Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: July 5, 2011) broadcasts. On a personal level, Grapevine's piano scoring is appropriate and much more agreeable. Although no piano score credit is given, it's quite reminiscent to William Perry's style from his Killiam Collection in public television's "The Silent Years" series of the 1970s.

As silent movies go, THE SHEIK is actually quite entertaining. In other words, "campy" with unintentional humor, and one not to be taken seriously. How the story and Valentino's performance appeals to contemporary audiences simply "rests with Allah." (***)

This movie is definitely a curio from the past. It was Rudolph Valentino's most famous movie and helped to make him, for a time, the most desired man across the globe. He was, in fact, the first true "male sex symbol" as a result of his performance in this movie. So, historically, it's a very important film. However, many seeing the film today will marvel at how poorly the film translates to modern audiences and sensibilities. First, the acting is overly dramatic--even for most silent films. Second, the sexy star might be seen by many today as a rapist--considering he kidnaps the lady and ultimately forces himself on her. But, despite this, it's still an entertaining if slight piece. I doubt, considering the sex symbols of the 21st century, Valentino will turn any of you on, but it still is interesting to see who grandma and great-grandma were panting over almost a century ago!

NOTE: Since I first posted this review, I have seen quite a few more films starring Valentino. And, overall, I think THE SHEIK is among his poorest films--though his most notable. Tastes do indeed change, as today it isn't all that great. Try seeing some of his other work--it definitely is an improvement in most cases.