“The Sheik” is a film that no doubt made Valentino popular despite the fact that in reality, he didn’t care for the film, nor being a Sheik. But it did cement him as Hollywood’s first sex symbol and those details may overshadow the actual film, “The Sheik” is still quite entertaining after all these years. And one should at least watch this film before watching “The Son of the Sheik”. Recommended!
© 1921 BY AMOUS PLAYERS AND LASKY CORP. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: The Sheik
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 1921
DURATION: 75 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p, Color tinted, DTS-Master Audio 2.0
COMPANY: Kino Lorber
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: May 30, 2017
Based on the Novel by Edith Maude Hull
Directed by George Melford
Adaptation by Monte M. Katterjohn
Music Composed and Performed by Ben Model
Cinematography by William Marshall
Starring:
Rudolph Valentino as The Sheik, Ahmed Ben Hassan
Agnes Ayres as Lady Diana Mayo
Ruth Miller as Zilah
George Waggner as Yousaef, Tribal Chieftain
Frank Butler as Sir Aubrey Mayo
Charles Brinley as Mustapha Ali, Diana’s Guide
Lucien Littlefield as Gaston
Adolphe Menjou as Dr. Raoul de St. Hubert
Walter Long as Omair, the Bandit
Hollywood’s first male sex symbol, Rudolph Valentino, appears in his most iconic roles in The Sheik (1921). Agnes Ayres stars as Lady Diana Mayo, a headstrong Western woman who infiltrates the private party of the handsome Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan (Valentino). When the Sheik later encounters Diana in the desert, he abducts her and takes her to his sumptuous lair. Unable to resist the Sheik’s cruel magnetism, Diana’s defiant nature crumbles and she begins to develop affectionate feelings for her captor. The Sheik plays upon a long tradition of Orientalism in Western art, which romanticized the sands of Northern Africa as a hotbed or seduction and captivity. Theatrical organ score by Ben Model.
“The Sheik”, it was the film that launched Hollywood’s first male sex symbol, Rudolph Valentino.
A man who made women swoon and angered many men due to being different from the typical male actors of his time, as Valentino was seen as a man who was very much into high fashion, slicking back his hair and was considered by the American male populace as being effeminate.
Needless to say, while Valentino was very much a different looking man in Hollywood courtesy of his Italian father and French mother and raised with a European influence.
And with the success of the 1921 film, “The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse”, earning $1,000,000 at the box office and Valentino’s looks, it would ear lead to Valentino working with Famous Players-Lasky (which would become Paramount Pictures) and Jessy Lasky wanting to capitalize on Valentino’s looks, cast him for “The Sheik” as the film’s protagonist Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan.
The film is based on the bestselling romance novel by Edith Maude Hull and the adaptation was directed by George Melford and the adaptation written by Monte M. Katterjohn.
“The Sheik” starred Valentino along with Agnes Ayres (“Forbidden Fruit”, “Eve’s Love Letters”), Ruth Miller (“The King of Kings”, “The Affairs of Anatol”), George Waggner (who would later become a director of films such as “The Wolf Man”, “77 Sunset Strip”, “Operation Pacific”), Frank Butler (who would go on to write films such as “Going My Way”, “Road to Morocco”, “Road to Bali”, Babes in Toyland”), Charles Brinley (“Moran of the Lady Letty”, “In the Days of Daniel Boone”), Lucien Littlefield (“Sons of the Desert”, “The Little Foxes”), Adolphe Menjou (“Paths of Glory”, “A Star is Born”, “A Farewell to Arms”) and Walter Long (“The Birth of a Nation”, “Intolerance”).
And now the film will be released on Blu-ray Kino Lorber in May 2017.
The film begins with an introduction to Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan as the Arabs are having a wife lottery.
Meanwhile, in the North African town of Biskra, we are introduced to the independent Lady Diana Mayo (portrayed by Agnes Ayres). Many of the women are gossiping about Lady Diana because she plans to go to the desert alone and take on a month-long trip escorted only by natives.
While her brother tries to convince her to not go, Lady Diana is dead set in going. And her friend proposes to her but she tells him that she doesn’t want to be married because it would make her a captive and she would rather live a life of freedom.
As she goes to a local casino, the people tell her she can not enter because an important Sheik, Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan is there for the evening and because she is not Arab, she is not permitted to go inside. But when the Sheik arrives, he is captivated by Lady Diana’s beauty.
And Lady Diana decides to sneak into the casino by swapping clothes with a dancer and disguising herself as one of the women. And what Lady Diana sees is women being given away for her marriage, which she can’t fathom. And when Lady Diana is selected as one of the women to be put up in the lottery, the Sheik sees the woman’s reluctance and realizes its the woman he saw outside of the casino. And for her protection, he escorts her out of the casino. And he is told by Lady Diana’s guide that he will be escorting her for her trip.
As Lady Diana goes to ride with her guide for her month-long trip through the desert, the Sheik and his men arrive with their horses and while Lady Dianna tries to flee, the Sheik captures Lady Diana and takes her to his home.
As Diana is distraught and wants to leave, the Sheik tells her that she will learn to love him.
And as her captive, will she learn to love him or will she escape from him?
VIDEO:
“The Sheik” is presented in 1080p High Definition and is color-tinted. It’s important to note that the last version I have of this DVD is the 2002 Image Entertainment DVD. And I can say that the quality of the film on Blu-ray is much better in terms of clarity and sharpness. The film is color-tinted and while there are scratches and some frames look blurrier, the entire film actually looks very good considering the film is nearly a hundred years old. The picture quality is definitely an improvement over the 2002 DVD.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Sheik” is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and the music presented for this release is music composed and performed by Ben Model. And once again, another splendid musical composition by Ben but I’m sure there are people who may be wondering if a second musical score is included, there is only one and the Gaylord Carter composition is not included.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Sheik” comes with the following special features:
- Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by historian Gaylyn Studlar.
- Archival Footage – (3:02) Archived footage taken at Rudolph Valentino’s funeral.
- “Blood and Sand” (1922) Theatrical Trailer – (2:02) The original theatrical trailer.
Considered as one of the biggest box office silent films and also socially influential films of all time, “The Sheik” is also known for propelling the career of Rudolph Valentino, making him Hollywood’s first sex symbol.
In someway, the film was an unknown risk. As Edith Maude Hull’s best selling novel “The Sheik” was controversial for racial miscegenation and rape, the film left out certain aspects from the film.
The other risk was by Jesse Lasky of Famous Players-Lasky (which would eventually become Paramount Pictures) casting the not too established actor, Rudolph Valentino. But wanting to capitalize on Valentino’s “Latin Lover” reputation, the risk paid off as many women turned out to the film to watch Valentino on the big screen.
For me, watching the film again over a decade later, I appreciate the film much more today. For one, the film features Lady Diana Mayo, an independent woman, who speaks against herself getting married, as she sees marriage as being in captivity and the end of independence. And the character, keeps her strong demeanor throughout the film, despite being distraught of being captured and possibly being forced to do things against her will.
In the original novel, the character of Lady Diana was raped by the Sheik but in the film, while the Sheik wants to take advantage of her, he sees her crying and distraught, that he decides to leave her alone. Many critics wrote that they wish there was no deviation from the original novel, but perhaps rape would be strong for a major film and it works to the favor of Rudolph Valentino as he is shown as a man with sensitivity and not going primal and making his captive, his sexual plaything.
I also am in awe of how far the director and film crew had gone to ensure a desert setting involving many extras, especially many who are on horseback. And while there is no clear answer of where the film was shot, set design to costume design is really well-done for this 1921 classic silent film.
My enjoyment of watching this film on HD is seeing the clarity of the film on Blu-ray versus how things looked on DVD 15-years ago. While not pristine, the film still looks much better than it ever has. And for the accompany musical score by Ben Model, he did a wonderful job scoring the film from beginning to end. And you also get a small featurette featuring Valentino’s funeral and the original theatrical trailer for “Blood & Sand”.
While “The Sheik” will be remembered for being a successful film that propelled both Rudolph Valentino and Agnes Ayres, a film so beloved by women that it made women in the audience faint and “The Sheik” would also become part of teenage lingo and even created a fashion trend for Arabian clothing. And the moniker “Valentino” has been used to describe certain type of guys still goes on today, despite many of those saying it, probably don’t know much about Rudolph Valentino at all.
“The Sheik” is a film that no doubt made Valentino popular despite the fact that in reality, he didn’t care for the film, nor being a Sheik. But it did cement him as Hollywood’s first sex symbol and those details may overshadow the actual film, “The Sheik” is still quite entertaining after all these years. And one should at least watch this film before watching “The Son of the Sheik”.
Recommended!
