silentmoviefan This was a truly great movie. It had something for everyone, adventure, romance, comedy. I'll start with the comedy. There's this itty bitty guy who's bald and has a beard who steals every scene he's in. He's an adult, but he's really small and really plays it up for laughs. There's plenty of adventure as first one side and then the other battles for possession of Vilma Banky. She's the prettiest woman in the film, so I can understand that. There's adventure right up to just about the last. Rudolph Valentino rescues her from a bandit (the title card says he's a Renegade Frenchman, he and Vilma kiss and it shows the riding off through the desert, in what turned out to be Rudloph Valentino's last film. I hate to say it, but I will. When it comes to looks, Vilma far outshines Agnes Ayers, who played the object of Rudoph Valentino's attention in The Sheik (1921). There's romance, between Rudoph and Vilma. Now, the bandit that Rudolph rescues her from had been promised to her by her father (thanks, Dad!), but her heart loves Rudolph. I've got to give Vilma, a little extra credit. It's not every Hungarian who could pull playing a believable dancer, but she does. What's kind of poignant is that Rudolph Valentino also plays his father and you see him as an older character. Unfortunately, he didn't live near long enough to get old. But like I said in the beginning, there's something for everyone in this film. If you like silent movies, try to give this one a look.

Kevin Clarke It amazes me, that Valentino-as-the-sheik was able to start such a fashion in the 1920s. Watching this sequel of THE SHEIK I keep seeing everything that had already been recycled in the Broadway operetta DESERT SONG - also filmed as an early talkie, shortly after SONG OF THE SHEIK. Valentino far outclasses everyone I've ever seen play "The Red Shadow" - and visually the SON OF THE SHEIK is much better than any DESERT SONG film version (even the later, color one). Considering the intense interest in 'Arab Matters' today, it's sad that no one revives DESERT SONG done Valentino-style. Because even after all those years - his 'hypnotic gaze' in the film remains hypnotic.

pocca It is sadly appropriate that in his final movie Valentino plays a stronger and more nuanced version of his signature character: Sheik Ahmed, the impassioned lover who is initially impetuous, self centred and brutal, but who gradually matures into an admirable man. In this case, the male lead is actually the son of the original sheik, but Valentino also plays, just as engagingly, the father who is now middle aged, wiser (this is essentially the adviser role Adolphe Menjou had in the original movie) but still commanding and able to wield a sword.As wasn't the case with "The Sheik," the script acknowledges the luridness of its material in a tongue-in-cheek manner (one memorable title card reads "The night was young at the Café Maure. Not a knife had been thrown—so far") while not mocking it to the point at the movie would lapse into parody and lose its pulpy charms. For example, in one of the most famous scenes the sheik tries to put his rebellious son in his place by bending an iron bar; the son replies by straightening it out. This is deliberate camp that nonetheless clearly establishes the strength of character and body of both men. The film also departs from the original in the frank comic relief it provides in the form of a nasty but amusing little mountebank who seems to get on the good and bad characters' nerves in equal measure. For those expecting titillation, the film does not disappoint. Valentino and the leading lady Vilma Banky, were involved in real life and it shows in the spooning scenes. The film also has plenty of the rougher, even perverse sexuality that in one form or another is present in nearly all of Valentino's films (even "The Eagle," the closest to a family picture Valentino ever made, has that brief scene with the hero flourishing a whip before the frightened female lead). Here we have Ahmed's rape of Yasmine which is far racier than the merely hinted at ravishment of Lady Diana in "The Sheik," and a striking (and homoerotic) sequence in which Valentino, tied up, his tailored white shirt torn to shreds, is subject to a prolonged whipping by a gang of thieves, the most sadistic of whom addresses him as "My young lion." To me, this is the quintessential Valentino film and the one to show people who are curious about this actor's enduring mystique.

LAgirl I recently saw the Son of the Sheik at an old movie house in Los Angeles. It was complete with the Wurlitzer theater pipe organ -- live accompaniment for this rare gem! I was in awe at how sophisticated and enchanting this movie was. I remarked to my husband that it reminded me of one of my trashy love novels. It was so perfect. I remember reading somewhere that Rudolph Valentino's fame came from the fact that he was so dark and handsome and muscular as opposed to the little pasty boys that had existed before him in the cinema. The scene where he exacts his revenge on Yasmin and ravishes her....was wonderful. His dark eyes as he looked at her in the close-ups.......ahhhhh. This movie truly was a treat. The desert scenes, the lush scenery and sumptuous costumes create a wonderful lavish movie. Valentino was taken from the cinema world far too early....but at least we have these lavish movies to remember him by.