“The Son of the Sheik” is no doubt an exciting romance/action silent film worth watching. And will forever be remembered as a Rudolph Valentino classic. Recommended!
© 1926 Artcinema Associates. 2017 KINO LORBER. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: The Son of the Sheik
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 1926
DURATION: 80Â 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 Fitzmaurice
Screen Adaptation by Frances Marion, Fred De Gresac
Titles by George Marion Jr.
Produced by George Fitzmaurice
Music Composed and Performed by Alloy Orchestra
Cinematography by George Barnes
Starring:
Rudolph Valentino as Ahmed/The Sheik
Vilma Banky as Yasmin
George Fawcett as Andre
Montagu Love as Ghabah
Karl Dane as Ramadan
Bull Montana as Mountebank
Agnes Ayres as Diana – Wife of the Sheik
In this visually intoxicating sequel to Valentino’s career-defining film The Sheik, the silent screen’s greatest lover portrays a cultured yet untamed young man who is lured into a thieve’s trap by a beautiful dancer, Yasmin (Vilma Banky). After escaping, he kidnaps the damsel and holds her captive in his desert lair, dressing her in Arabian finery and threatening to unleash his violent passion upon her. Exotic romance saturates every frame of this Orientalist epic; its sadomoasochistic fantasies are acted out against the lavish set design of William Cameron Menzies (The Thief of Bagdad) and lushly photographed by George Barnes (Sadie Thompson). The Son of the Sheik proved to be Valentino’s final film. He died suddenly on August 23rd, 1926 at the age of 31, just before the picture’s release. This edition is mastered from the best surviving 35mm elements and features a dazzling score by Alloy Orchestra.
In 1921, “The Sheik” was the film that launched Hollywood’s first male sex symbol, Rudolph Valentino.
Despite the success of “The Sheik” and his 1922 film “Blood and Sand”, due to his divorce with Jean Acker and the negative publicity he had received for being romantically involved with silent film costume and set designer, Natacha Rambova, thus earning a reputation of a bigamist, he was also in a battle against Famous Players which earned him a reputation of having an ego and being a diva for not settling for the proposed salary that they had given him.
And Valentino would then go on a break until his return to make more films and eventually signing with United Artists thanks to his friends and fellow silent actors, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks. And in 1926, he would go on to film “The Son of the Sheik” despite his known hatred to use the sheik image. But took on the role in order to pay off his debts.
While “The Son of the Sheik”, which is based on a 1925 romance novel by Edith Maude Hull was a success in the box office (grossing $1,000,000 within the first year of its release) and many decades later would be selected for preservation in the United Stations National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”, it was not a film that Valentino would enjoy.
While on a nationwide tour to promote the film, Valentino collapsed in his New York hotel room and doctors discovered that he had a perforated ulcer which required surgery. But unfortunately, after the surgery, Valentino developed peritonitis and would die on August 23, 1926. As critics raved Valentino’s performance as his best, the film would be released two weeks after the actor’s death.
“The Son of Sheik” was directed by George Fitzmaurice (“Suzy”, “Raffles”, “The Devil to Pay!”) and features a screen adaptation by Frances Marion (“Camille”, “The Scarlet Letter”, “The Red Mill”) and Fred De Gresac (“Sweet Hearts”, “Vida Bohemia”, “Hell Harbor”).
The film would star Valentino in a dual role as The Sheik (of the original film) and who is the father of the film’s protagonist, Ahmed. The film would also star Agnes Ayres reprising her role as Dianna, the mother of Ahmed. And the film would star Vilma Banky (“The Eagle”, “The Winning of Barbara Worth”, “The Awakening”), George Fawcett (“Flesh and the Devil”, “The Wedding March”, “The Merry Widow”), Montagu Love (“The Adventures of Robin Hood”, “Gunga Din”, “The Mark of Zorro”) and Karl Dane (“The Big Parade”, “The Big House”, “The Scarlet Letter”).
And now “The Son of the Sheik” will be released on Blu-ray in May 2017 (as well as the 1921 film, “The Sheik”) by Kino Lorber.
The film begins with an introduction to a gang of criminals who disguise themselves as a troupe. The daughter of the gang’s leader is Yasmin (portrayed by Vilma Banky) who is a dancing girl that performs in front of men and keeps their eyes fixed on her, while her father and his men do their crimes.
One day while dancing in the ruins of Touggourt, she and Ahmed (portrayed by Rudolpha Valentino), the son of the Sheik (an older version of the character from the the first film, also played by Valentino), fall for each other and have a secret romance. When one of the men catches the two together, her father is disappointed as she is promised to Ghabah (portrayed by Montagu Love).
Meanwhile, Ahmed is captured by the gang, as they feel they could collect a large ransom because he is the son of the Sheik. When Ahmed asks for Yasmin, he is told by Ghabah that it was all a ruse and that Yasmin was faking everything to lure him in. Ahmed is beaten and tortured.
While Ahmed’s men would come and rescue him, Ahmed can’t believe the woman he loved was using him.
Will his love turn to anger? And when his father finds out that Ahmed was having a romantic relationship with a dancing girl, how will his parents react?
VIDEO:
“The Son of the Sheik” is presented in 1080p High Definition(1:331 aspect ratio) and is color-tinted. It’s important to note that the last version I have of this DVD is the 2000 Kino Lorber 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 (not black and white) and while there are scratches and some frames look blurrier, the entire film actually looks very good considering the film is over 90-years old. The picture quality is definitely an improvement over the 2000 DVD.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Son of the Sheik” is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and the music presented for this release is music composed and performed by Alloy Orchestra. The orchestra version really gives an exciting adventure-action film type of feel to it. but I’m sure there are people who may be wondering if a second musical score is included and the theatre organ score by Jack Ward featured on the 2000 Kino Lorber DVD is not included on this Blu-ray release.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Son of the Sheik” comes with the following special features:
- Introductions by Orson Welles -Â (17:34) Orson Welles discusses Valentino and “The Son of the Sheik”.
- Newspaper Headlines Announcing Valentino’s Illness and Death – (1:29) Newspaper clips featuring the headlines regarding Valentino’s illness and death.
- Valentino: His Life and Times – (8:32) A short documentary about Rudolph Valentino.
- Valentino at the Beach – A Short Subject – (2:25) A small short shot during a time Rudolph Valentino was not with a film company.
- The Young Rajah Theatrical Trailer – (2:30) A trailer for Valentino’s 1922 film “The Young Rajah”.
As Rudolph would continue to make women swoon and men would question his masculinity because of the actor’s European upbringing and style. While it has been a few years since Valentino had a major box office hit, “The Son of the Sheik” would become the actor’s finest film that would earn a significant amount of money in the box office for its time.
But the film would also showcase the final work of Valentino, as the actor passed away during the promotion of the film at the young age of 31.
Reuniting both Valentino and his “The Eagle” co-star, Vilma Banky to star in a film showcasing the love and passion between the two individuals, their love is put to the test as Valentino, playing the young Ahmed (son of “The Sheik” character of Ahmed) is captured, tortured by a gang and offered for ransom. To make things worse, the gang puts in Ahmed’s head that his girlfriend Yasmin was using him and was in on the plan of luring him.
While Ahmed is eventually freed by his men, he has developed a hatred towards the woman he once loved. But what happens when he captures Yasmin and keeps him at his home, his father, The Sheik is disappointed in his son’s actions.
Meanwhile, the gang wants Yasmin back and it would lead to an action-packed battle between Ahmed, his father and their soldiers versus this gang of ruffians. What will happen to Ahmed and Yasmin? Can their love be tested in such fashion and can these two overcome this test? Or will Ahmed’s hatred towards Yasmin for thinking he wronged him, start to consume him?
A worthy sequel to “The Sheik”, which showcases Valentino in dual roles and also featuring the return of Agnes Ayres as the Sheik’s wife, Dianna, the sequel was a major success because of its stars but also because it had a sultry storyline which showcase Valentino and Banky showing amazing chemistry (on the big screen) with one another. But also delivers in action, which many people will love because there is so much of it.
So, there is a good balance of drama and action in “The Son of the Sheik” and it’s a silent film that showcases Valentino’s strength as an actor.
As the film looks fantastic on Blu-ray and the Alloy Orchestra musical score is quite awesome. But I can understand if there are those who are not thrilled that Jack Ward’s theatre organ score from the 2000 Kino Lorber DVD is not included on this Blu-ray release.
You also get a few special features which also includes another different way of seeing the funeral of Valentino, news headlines of his sickness and his death but also an introduction by Orson Welles showing his respect towards Valentino.
Overall, “The Son of the Sheik” is no doubt an exciting romance/action silent film worth watching. And will forever be remembered as a Rudolph Valentino classic. Recommended!
