Valentino's final film is unremarkable for its characters or plot - the latter is but a melodramatic trifle. It is, however, of some historical interest with regard to visual narrative.
Of course, back then there were no 'vocal technician' actors. Every actor had to tell a story with his or her body, face, and especially with the eyes. On that count, there's plenty of trademark Rudy glares, modulated with knowing smirks and slight raises of his right brow. He was keenly aware of his power over women, and wasn't afraid to use it - it shows here.
Likewise, Banky has to keep the male audience interested, so she has to project this without words - and so her dances are engineered to send men into smoldering paroxysms -- somewhat risible, today. Compare this to Samantha Morton's performance in "Sweet and Lowdown" to see how far we've come, not only in movie craft, but in the degree of competence we expect from the actors.
The key technical feature is the split screen compositions with Rudy playing 'the Sheik' and 'the Son' in the same frame -- not original, but quite effective and nearly seamless. Simultaneously, it ties in the first "Sheik" AND this story; Rudy has to reinvent the first character - very clever.
The big weak spot, though, is in the intertitles. These were not well handled - they aren't edited to any effect, they're simply cut right in between the actors' mouth movements. This could have been essential viewing if someone had the vision to manipulate us more effectively through the editing.
Of course, back then there were no 'vocal technician' actors. Every actor had to tell a story with his or her body, face, and especially with the eyes. On that count, there's plenty of trademark Rudy glares, modulated with knowing smirks and slight raises of his right brow. He was keenly aware of his power over women, and wasn't afraid to use it - it shows here.
Likewise, Banky has to keep the male audience interested, so she has to project this without words - and so her dances are engineered to send men into smoldering paroxysms -- somewhat risible, today. Compare this to Samantha Morton's performance in "Sweet and Lowdown" to see how far we've come, not only in movie craft, but in the degree of competence we expect from the actors.
The key technical feature is the split screen compositions with Rudy playing 'the Sheik' and 'the Son' in the same frame -- not original, but quite effective and nearly seamless. Simultaneously, it ties in the first "Sheik" AND this story; Rudy has to reinvent the first character - very clever.
The big weak spot, though, is in the intertitles. These were not well handled - they aren't edited to any effect, they're simply cut right in between the actors' mouth movements. This could have been essential viewing if someone had the vision to manipulate us more effectively through the editing.