/iNUDRcA7lmpZiUkz79Maqw4jREv.jpg
AdventureDramaRomance

The Sheik

- A photoplay of tempestuous love between a madcap English beauty and a bronzed Arab chief!

Sheik Ahmed desperately desires feisty British socialite Diana, so he abducts her and carries her off to his luxurious tent-palace in the desert. The free-spirited Diana recoils from his passionate embraces and yearns to be released. Later, allowed to go into the desert, she escapes and makes her way across the sands...

Release Date : 1921-11-20

Language :No Language

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Paramount PicturesFamous Players-Lasky Corporation

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Rudolph Valentino

Character Name : Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan

Original Name : Rudolph Valentino

Gender : Male

Agnes Ayres

Character Name : Lady Diana Mayo

Original Name : Agnes Ayres

Gender : Female

Ruth Miller

Character Name : Zilah - A Marriage Market Prospect

Original Name : Ruth Miller

Gender : Female

George Waggner

Character Name : Yousaef - Tribal Chieftain (as George Waggener)

Original Name : George Waggner

Gender : Male

Frank Butler

Character Name : Sir Aubrey Mayo

Original Name : Frank Butler

Gender : Male

Charles Brinley

Character Name : Mustapha Ali - Diana's Guide (as Charles Brindley)

Original Name : Charles Brinley

Gender : Male

Lucien Littlefield

Character Name : Gaston - French Valet

Original Name : Lucien Littlefield

Gender : Male

Adolphe Menjou

Character Name : Dr. Raoul de St. Hubert

Original Name : Adolphe Menjou

Gender : Male

Walter Long

Character Name : Omair - the Bandit

Original Name : Walter Long

Gender : Male

Sally Blane

Character Name : Arab Child (uncredited)

Original Name : Sally Blane

Gender : Female

Earl Gordon Bostwick

Character Name : Suitor (uncredited)

Original Name : Earl Gordon Bostwick

Gender : Male

Rafael Negrete

Character Name : Violinist (uncredited)

Original Name : Rafael Negrete

Gender : Male

Natacha Rambova

Character Name : Arab Dancer (uncredited)

Original Name : Natacha Rambova

Gender : Female

Loretta Young

Character Name : Arab Child (uncredited)

Original Name : Loretta Young

Gender : Female

Polly Ann Young

Character Name : Arab Child (uncredited)

Original Name : Polly Ann Young

Gender : Female

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2022-06-06

I was actually quite disappointed with this film. It has all the ingredients, all right, but somehow it just doesn't rise! Agnes Ayres is the feisty, determined "Lady Diana Mayo", a non-nonsense British aristocrat who visits Algeria where she meets the eponymous "Sheik Ahmed". She isn't much bothered about him, either way, but he falls hook, line and sinker and secrets her away to his oasis home. She rejects his, to be fair, rather kindly and indulgent advances and wants no truck with his desert ways and traditions (and, in her mind, the humiliation of being his chattel, however well intentioned he may have been). In the best traditions of an Hollywood love story, though, you can guess how their relationship eventually pans out - and when the bandit "Omair" (Walter Long) does some kidnapping of his own, the scene is set for an action-packed (albeit brief) denouement. It is definitely a film that, now in it's centenary year, has a beauty to it. The cinematography is almost perfect and the impact of the photography - especially of Valentino, who does way more flirting with the audience than Ayres does - is spellbinding. The flaw? Well, the story really does plod along. The sands of the desert took as long to form as the plot; and after a while beautiful people and horses need a purpose - and, in my view, it's all too late in coming. It took over $3m at the box office, a phenomenal sum for 1921, and that is partly testament to the star and the topic, but I wonder how many other people it disappointed at the time, too...