Rudolf Valentino in The Sheik

A while ago I came across Blood and Sand and The Eagle, both starring Rudolf Valentino - I have to say I found The Eagle, about a Russian outlaw, much more enjoyable than the bullfighting tale, which I feel has dated badly.
Then I realised I'd never seen the film that made Valentino famous, which is, of course, The Sheik.
Oh, my!
I liked him - he looked good in Arab robes, and seemed to have a cheerful disposition. He spends a lot of time creeping into the heroine's bedroom and not quite having his wicked way with her, though I gather the audience is supposed to assume that they have, in fact, been to bed together. Apparently (according to the Wikipedia entry) the song The Sheik of Araby was written as a response to this film, with the line "At night when you're asleep, into your tent I'll creep".
And then there's the racism. The writers tied themselves in knots trying to make him not actually an Arab, - it's revealed at the end of the film that his parents were actually Spanish and English, and the old sheik brought him up as his own when they died in the desert. With this revelation that he is really white, our heroine is free to fling herself into his arms.
The heroine irritated me. One minute she's planning a trip into the desert and sneaking into the Casino in Arab dress to catch a glimpse of our hero, like a plucky adventuress - but as soon as she's captured she spends most of her time fainting or weeping. She also comes over all terrified when being guarded by a black man while a prisoner of Omair the bandit (who really does want to rape her - she struggles and Sheik Ahmed arrives to save her in the nick of time).
I don't really see why Sheik Ahmed had to kidnap her either - I assume they were following the plot of the novel the film was based on, but Ahmed had already had a word with the Arab who was going to guide her into the desert, so I don't see why he didn't just guide her straight to Ahmed's camp.
They obviously spent quite a bit of money on the film - there are lots of extras with horses, and some camels; it'd be interesting to find out where they filmed it, with all those sand dunes. The film was so successful that they made Son of the Sheik five years later, also starring Valentino as both father and son. I'm not sure I'll be going off in search of that, though. I can see why it was popular in 1921, and it's interesting as a period piece, but that's about it, I think.

Rudolf Valentino Films

I came across a couple of Rudolf Valentino films on DVD recently. Of the two, Blood and Sand was the one I wanted to see, because it was one of his most famous films - and when I was growing up in Lancashire, when a man wanted to swear but didn't want to use real swearwords in front of the children, "Blood and Sand!" was a phrase that could safely be used, taken from the film, and the later re-make with Tyrone Power.
Although it was 1922, and silent films had been around for a while, the film makers didn't seem to have caught on to having the cast list at the beginning of the film. Instead, the name of the actor who had just appeared was written on the next caption card.
It was also noticeable that actual bull fighting scenes were kept to an absolute minimum - not many special effects in those days (and being a film stuntman was incredibly dangerous!). Some scenes may have been from a real bullfight, with a huge crowd and the bull fighters seen in the middle distance. Close ups of Rudolf Valentino in the bull ring showed him posing with the sword and cape, and that was about it.
The real action was going on out of the bull ring, where cocky Juan Gallardo has a meteoric rise to fame and fortune, marries his childhood sweetheart Carmen, and is seduced by the wicked Donna Sol. He's out of his depth in society and he knows it - but he still keeps going back. When Carmen finally finds out what he's been up to, his apology to her is one of the lamest possible, some rubbish about having a "good love and a bad love" - but since this is a film made in 1922, all Carmen can do is turn away and quiver tragically.
In emotional turmoil, Juan goes to fight in the last bull fight of the season.... It's all very tragic, and I can see why it was popular enough for a re-make in 1941, but it really hasn't stood the test of time.

I had never heard of The Eagle, made in 1925, but I enjoyed it a lot more than Blood and Sand.
In this, Rudolf Valentino plays a dashing young Russian lieutenant - and he was a pretty good actor, because Vladimir Dubrovsky is quite different from Juan Gallardo. He comes to the notice of the Czarina when he heroically stops a runaway carriage (using the Czarina's own horse - a good example of stunt work as the rider jumps onto the lead carriage horse at a gallop). The Czarina invites him to supper, and obviously intends to seduce him - at which he takes fright and runs away. This wasn't what he signed up to the army for! His captain is fortunately on hand to take his place at supper, and the Czarina soon issues a warrant for Vladimir's arrest for desertion.
Meanwhile, the wicked Kyrilla has taken over the family estate, the sort of chap who keeps a bear in the cellar to feed his enemies to, and Vladimir arrives just in time to find his father dying in a peasant's cottage. He vows vengeance, gathers a band of peasants together, and basically becomes Robin Hood.
Then the bandits, without their leader (now known as The Black Eagle), capture Kyrilla's beautiful daughter (and her aunt, but they let her go again immediately!). I liked her! As the bandits pursued the open carriage, she was standing up and fighting them off with a horse whip! She is, of course, the girl who Vladimir rescued in the runaway carriage at the beginning of the film.
So he takes the place of the French tutor who has been sent for to teach the beautiful Mascha, and gets inside the family home, and into a delightful battle of wits with Mascha, played by Vilma Blanky. She has her suspicions that she's seen the handsome French tutor before....
It all comes to an exciting climax when The Black Eagle is unmasked, escapes with Mascha, and runs straight into a troop of soldiers who arrest him for the desertion at the beginning of the film. The Czarina signs his death warrant - but first, he is allowed to get married, and the general who is to carry out the sentence is Vladimir's old captain....
So it all ends happily for the lovers, but not so good for the poor peasants who have to carry on putting up with Kyrilla's rule over them.