When a Russian lieutenant deserts the czarina’s army, choosing not to be a sexual dalliance of hers, he becomes a Robin Hood-like defender of the downtrodden named The Black Eagle. The Eagle soon finds that he is smitten with the refined daughter of the man who has robbed his own family of their estate. Much of the film pivots on the growing relationship between Rudolph Valentino as Lieutenant Dubrovski and Vilma Banky as Mascha, as The Black Eagle seeks to collect his revenge on her father.

The Eagle (1925) was Rudolph Valentino’s return to feature motion pictures after his protracted contract dispute with Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. Valentino had kept himself busy with vaudeville tours and appearances in independently-produced short documentary films, until his Paramount contract expired, and in 1925 negotiated a new contract for films to be distributed by United Artists. The Eagle was directed by one of Hollywood’s top directors, Clarence Brown, and designed by the great William Cameron Menzies, but is ultimately little more than a romantic vehicle for screen idol Rudolph. And the Valentino charm is here in full effect, with plenty of gauzed close-ups of the somber and now-smiling Rudolph for fans to swoon over. — Carl Bennett

This Killiam presentation has been transferred from a beaten and dusty 16mm reduction print that, nonetheless, features a very good range of graytones and good image detail. The print is further compromised by light to moderate speckling, long vertical scratches, and several moments of drastic print scuffing. The transfer has been too tightly framed, and some intertitles will be cropped on some televisions. A moving frameline, annoyingly adjusted throughout the progress of the film, further reveals the amount of over-cropping.

Compared to the best edition of The Eagle on home video, the 1989 laserdisc from Image Entertainment (transferred from Kevin Brownlow and David Gill’s presentation for British television), this Killiam DVD edition suffers by comparison. The Brownlow and Gill edition not only features open framing of the picture image, it was also transferred from a 35mm print in the Raymond Rohauer collection and thus features greater image detail.

One of the main reasons a collector may want to obtain this Killiam edition of The Eagle is the music score performed on theater pipe organ by the late Lee Erwin, the first of his performances released on DVD. The music has been transferred from the optical soundtrack of one of the Killiam prints of the film. The resulting audio quality is OK, with some crackling and pops, but fares better here than on other Killiam DVD releases.

Ultimately, the edition is watchable, with its above-average 16mm source print, but it is frustrating that (what appears to be) a new transfer should be so tightly cropped and utilize a reduction print when quality 35mm materials have survived. We advice collectors that, in the absence of a better home video edition in their collections, this Killiam edition may be serviceable until a better-quality edition is produced for DVD.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.

For the Navarre video transfer, the first on DVD, a 16mm reduction print has been used that is slightly contrasty, with soft image detail, moderate dust and speckling, some print scuffing, splices, and fine vertical scratches. The framing is tight but the intertitles will remain readable, and the film has been transferred at a proper speed, unlike the Killiam DVD edition that followed this one. Overall, the print is watchable but some of the burnt-out image highlights are annoying.

The presentation is accompanied by a canned orchestral soundtrack.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.

It is unknown what quality of materials have been utilized for this PAL British edition.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 2 PAL DVD of this edition from Amazon.co.uk.

About Rudolph Valentino:
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino (1982)
Rudolph Valentino: The Great Lover (19??)

Other silent era Clarence Brown films available on DVD home video:
Flesh and the Devil (1927)
The Last of the Mohicans (1920)
The Light in the Dark (1921)
Smouldering Fires (1924)