The Son of the Sheik (1926)

Crappy film

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Rudolph Valentino (Ahmed, the son/Ahmed Ben Hassan), Vilma Banky (Yasmin Romez), Agnes Ayres (Diana Ben Hassan), George Fawcett (Andre Romez), Montagu Love (Ghabah, whose crimes outnumber the desert sands), Karl Dane (Ramadan, young Ahmed's henchman), Bull Montana (Ali), Bynunsky Hyman (Pincher, a malevolent dwarf), Charles Requa (Pierre, a city friend of young Ahmed), William Donovan (S'rir), Erwin Connelly (the zouve), George Fiske (stunt double). (Miss Ayres appears as a favor to the picture & Mr. Valentino through the courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn).Director: GEORGE FITZMAURICE. Screenplay: Frances Marion, Fred de Gresac. Titles: George Marion, Jr. Based on the 1925 novel by Edith M. Hull. Photography: George Barnes. Art director: William Cameron Menzies. Property master: Irving W. Sindler. Stills: Nealson Smith. Producers: George Fitzmaurice, John W. Considine, Jr.Copyright 24 August 1926 by Feature Productions. Released through United Artists: 5 September 1926. New York opening at the Mark Strand: 25 July 1926. 68 minutes. COMMENT: Although not as richly tapestried as "The Sheik", this sequel has a stronger story and is equally well-produced. Rudolph Valentino's acting is also far more impressive. In fact he handles the character portion of his dual role most persuasively. What a shame it turned out to be his final performance! Nor is the support cast lacking in appeal. Miss Ayres seems more at home with her role here than she was in the original, while Vilma Banky makes a most attractive heroine. Montagu Love tries hard to steal the acting honors from the principals—and almost succeeds despite enjoyable efforts by Bynunsky Hyman to upstage him. Karl Dane also makes a big pitch to collar the limelight, but fails dismally despite many indulgent close-ups. In other respects, director George Fitzmaurice takes full advantage of sets and locations to move the story forward with both style and panache.Unfortunately, the original shimmering photography by George Barnes is not so well served in the Image DVD, printed up from the 1937 black-and-white re-issue instead of the original sepia.

"The Son of the Sheik" tragically, turned out to be Rudolph Valentino's final film due to his untimely death just before the film premiered. It is a sequel to the earlier "The Sheik" (1921).Ahmed (Valentino) is the son of a wealthy and powerful sheik (also played by Valentino). He meets a young dancer Yasmin (Vilma Banky) who is the daughter of Frenchman Andre (George Fawcett) the leader of a band of entertainers (and bandits). One of the men is the brutal Ghalbah (Montegue Love) to whom Andre has promised the hand of his daughter.Ahmed and Yasmin are meeting secretly when Ghalbah and his men capture Ahmed, torture him and hold him for ransom. Ghalbah tells Ahmed that Yasmin has betrayed him and that she is part of the plot. Ahmed's trusted servant Ramadan (Karl Dane) rescues him and takes him to a friend's home to recover. Ahmed vows revenge on Yasmin.Later during a skirmish Ahmed abducts Yasmin and takes her to his camp. There, he begins his plans to exact revenge upon the puzzled young woman. There is left little doubt over his method of revenge. The two now apparently despise each other until Ramadan who has just escaped from Ghalbah and his gang, informs Ahmed that Yasmin is innocent of any deceit.Meanwhile back at the castle, the Sheik and his wife Diana (Agnes Ayres) are worried as to why they haven't heard from his son in over a week. The Sheik goes to Ahmed to find out why and learns of his involvement with a lady.Ahmed later goes to the café where Yasmin is dancing with the aim of winning her back. A fight breaks out and.........................This film is arguably Valentino's best work and achieved greater popularity due to the star's death. Valentino's acting had improved noticeably from the earlier film. His portrayal of the elder Sheik is carried off convincingly. The shots of father and son together are masterfully done to the point that you think that there were two different actors in the shot.The dancing of the beautiful Vilma Banky is spectacular and her scenes with Valentino are memorable. Montegue Love was one of the busiest villains of the twenties and doesn't disappoint here. Agnes Ayes, reprising her role from the earlier film, makes the transition to worried mother effortlessly. The swashbuckling scenes are exciting and are well choreographed.One only has to look at this film to see the appeal that Valentino had over the ladies, That burning stare and fetching smile must have made many a girl swoon. It's a pity that he had to die so young. You can only wonder what further heights he would have achieved had he lived.Rudolph Valentino...one of a kind.

Sunday February 15, 1:30 & 7:00pm, The Lynwood, Bainbridge Island"Lie still, you little fool!" An Arabian prince (Rudolph Valentino) becomes infatuated with a beautiful dancing girl (Vilma Banky), traveling each night to see her, until he is beaten and robbed by the gang of thieves she lives with. Believing she is complicit in the crime, he takes her by force to his desert camp and has his revenge. When his father (also played by Valentino) takes him home to fulfill a marriage agreement, the girl is set free. Once back among the miscreants, she learns the truth.A frenzy of interest surrounded The Son of The Sheik (1926), released two weeks after the unexpected death of its star. Banky’s dancing scenes and kidnapping are exhilarating highlights. Intensely romantic in a primitive sense, Valentino’s persona cultivated a desire for sexual fulfillment in his audience, while encouraging a positive attitude toward forceful, sexual dominance. Cinema as escapist fantasy has no better example from the silent era.

This was a truly amazing film. TCM just played this along with four others for Valentine's Day. While "Camille" (What was with Nazimova's hair?), "The Eagle", "Four Horsemen", and "Conquering Power" were all good, "Son of the Sheik" was the best for Valentine's Day. The pure raw sensuality that Valentino portrayed was exciting. I've only been into the silent films for the past fours years, and as I'm only 22, one would think I have no appreciation for "old" people. However, this film had me online for a few hours finding pictures of Valentino in this film. HUBBA HUBBA!!! It really is a shame he didn't live longer. He very well could have made talkies, as the song I heard him record sounded lovely.