The Sheik (1921) on

It is a well known and often told story that Rudolph Valentino was a largely unknown actor when he appeared in The Sheik (1921), the film that shot him into the rarified heights of an international film star.

The film, based on a ‘scandalous’ British novel, seems more than a bit melodramatic today, with its ‘forbidden’ interracial love elements and its sappy story of a privileged and self-determined society woman who is knocked-down a peg or two by the desert and its inhabitants. However, Valentino (who does more than his share of ridiculous eye-popping in the film in lieu of better acting devices — fault director George Melford for not keeping it under control) holds the film together by virtue of his magnetic presence alone. There are plenty of shots of Valentino flashing that million-dollar smile that made him the top matinee idol of the 1920s. The film, nonetheless, does have a number of exciting action sequences that help it rise above the average film fare of 1921. — Carl Bennett

Comparing this DVD edition to the VHS edition released in 1992 by Paramount Home Video, one immediately realizes that the Paramount edition utilized a reedited and retitled rerelease print for its video transfer, and that this new DVD edition has utilized for its transfer an excellent color-toned 35mm print of the original theatrical release version. Owners of the Paramount videotape may choose to hold onto it as a document of the reissue print.

The print for the Image DVD features a broad range of graytones and very good image detail, with very slight print damage in the form of light speckling, scrapes, and emulsion scuffing. The transfer is full-frame but is also generously cropped at the extreme edges of the film frame to render the maximum picture (as long as your television doesn’t excessively crop overscan area). Some intertitles will be slightly cropped on some TV monitors, but that appears to be the fault of the camera framing rather than the transfer framing.

Featured with The Sheik on this DVD is the film’s sequel, The Son of the Sheik (1926). The Son of the Sheik DVD review.

Among the supplementary material is Rudolph Valentino and His 88 American Beauties (1923) is documentary produced by the young David O. Selznick during Valentino’s contract dispute with Famous Players-Lasky, and served the purpose of keeping Valentino before the moving-going public during his vaudeville tour. Valentino was a judge in a beauty contest held in New York, with 88 contestants, including future film star Eugenia Gilbert. The film is padded with a hodge podge of footage taken during the event and of the contestants afterwards, but the film served its purpose for Valentino and made Selznick a goodly sum of money at the beginning of his career as a film producer. The transfer has been made from an excellent 35mm print, with mild speckling and moderate frame jitters. The film was previously available as a supplement on laserdisc.

The Sheik’s Physique (192?) is an odd little fiction film of Valentino (complete with long, pointed sideburns) driving to the beach and, to wow female viewers, changing into a swimming suit to spend a leisurely afternoon relaxing. Having fallen asleep, Rudy awakens to discover that he is late for an undefined appointment, realizes that his car is gone, and he must hitch a ride back into town. The film, which is likely exerpted from a longer compilation reel, has little purpose other than to keep new Valentino footage on the world's cinema screens until he formally returned to film acting. Transferred from, what appears to be, an excellent 35mm print.

[Pathe News: Rudolph Valentino Dead!] (1926) is a portion of newsreel footage of the funeral of Valentino. Includes footage from The Son of the Sheik and an incidental glimpse of Pola Negri. Transferred from an excellent 35mm print that is lightly speckled, moderately jittery and slightly damaged.

All of the films on this Image DVD feature music scores performed on synthesizers by Eric Beheim, who has written extensive notes on the scoring for the insert booklet. The disc also features an alternate music track of the 1937 reissue music and sound effects track for The Son of the Sheik.

This DVD edition of Valentino’s sheik films, produced for home video by David Shepard, encompasses a five-year span during which Rudolph Valentino rose to fame, fought studio control (almost disasterously), successfully returned to films, and ultimately died a premature death at age 31. With its wealth of Valentino films in great prints, this DVD is a great buy for both value and quality.

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.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.co.uk.

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.

This budget-edition disc may be mastered from 16mm reduction print materials. It is unknown which version of the film is presented (original or rerelease version).

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.