The Son of the Sheik (1926)

Director:

George Fitzmaurice

Writers:

Edith Maude Hull (novel)
Frances Marion (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

5 September 1926 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

A Sequel to "The Sheik"

Plot:

Men and women, fathers and children. Ahmed, son of Diana and Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan, falls in love with Yasmin...

Plot Keywords:

Sheik | Ruins | Ransom | Dancer | Fight

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Rudolph Valentino	...	Ahmed, the Sheik's Son / Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan
Vilma Bánky	...	Yasmin, André's Daughter (as Vilma Banky)
George Fawcett	...	André Romez
Montagu Love	...	Ghabah (as Montague Love)
Karl Dane	...	Ramadan
Bull Montana	...	Ali - a Mountebank
Bynunsky Hyman	...	Pincher - a Mountebank (as Binunsky Hyman)
Agnes Ayres	...	Diana - Wife of the Sheik
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Earl Gordon Bostwick	...	Bit Part

Runtime:

68 min (1969 alternate version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Approved (1937 re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Buttercup Dunes, Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Feature Productions

Trivia:

Rudolph Valentino personally picked Vilma Bánky as his leading lady for this film, which would be his last.

Quotes:

Dancing Girl: I am tired... yet I must dance!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime: The Affair of the Pink Pearl (#1.1)" (1983)

Soundtrack:

That Night in Araby

Delightful Romantic Adventure

In the south of Algiers, in a camp of outcasts, the Frenchman André (George Fawcett) leads a troupe of mountebanks and thieves. His daughter Yasmin (Vilma Banky) is the dancer of the group and is promised to the cutthroat Moor Ghobah (Montague Love). However, Yasmin meets Ahmed (Rudolph Valentino), who is the Sheik's son but she does not know, and they fall in love for each other. When the young couple secretly dates in the ruins of Touggourt, where Yasmin dances, the criminals attack Ahmed, beat up and capture him, expecting to ask for a ransom. Ghobah poisons Ahmed, telling that Yasmin is a bait to lure victims for them. Ahmed escapes, and he abducts Yasmin and despises her. When he knows the truth, he fights against the gang of criminals trying to rescue her from Ghobah.

"The Son of the Sheik" is the last movie of Rudolph Valentino and a delightful adventure with romance, action and drama. The cinematography is impressive, and I particularly liked very much the sequences when Vilma Banky dances in Touggourt beginning with a close and opening to the whole place, and when Ahmed chases Ghobah and Yasmin in the desert. Considering the equipment available in 1926, big, heavy and with serious limitations, it is amazing how these scenes were shot. Rudolph Valentino is fantastic in the role of the son of the Sheik, and his agility recalled me Errol Flynn, when he fights in the bar of Touggourt, jumping on the chandelier. The beautiful Vilma Banky dances magnificently well, shows a great chemistry with Rudolph Valentino and has also a great interpretation. The intense music of Arthur Gutmann gives a perfect dynamic to this wonderful underrated film. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "O Filho do Sheik" ("The Son of the Sheik")