Lawrence loved Arabia and Meryl Streep fell for Africa, but Diana, the leading lady of "The Sheik," resists the desert with all her might. She reacts badly to Valentino at first, prefers to consort with Europeans, and threatens Arabs with a pistol she can barely shoot. As in every Hollywood romance, however, her heart eventually melts. Maybe this was an unexpected plot twist in 1921."The Sheik," will open the eyes of anybody who mistakenly believes that human history has been a steady march of ever increasing open-mindedness about sex. The 1920s were a more open, steamy time in film that the next couple of decades that followed it, which the "The Sheik" non-prudish storyline illustrates."The Sheik" is not quite exhilarating enough and is somewhat disappointing if you're looking for exotic passion or a home video for date night. But it succeeds as an early romantic comedy, and distinguishes itself from other silent era fare such as the mawkish humor of Chaplain, the historical bombast of "Birth of a Nation," and the serious reverence of "King of Kings." For romance between appealing leads in locations far from civilization as we know it, "Son of the Sheik" or even "Stagecoach" fifteen years later are better bets. Still, "The Sheik" is historically important and more fun than most films of the time.

I can't believe all the apologist critiques. The Sheik is so enjoyable, fun and Valentino is so warm and loving with his co-star, it is a must see! (Plus I love the music that comes with it) Remember also Valentino at this time in his life, was newly and madly in love with the love of his life, Natasha and he is just radiant throughout this whole film. It's been said that he along with the rest of the cast and crew had the time of their lives romping through the desert making this film. It truly shows.Valentino is gorgeous in this. I watch it periodically and it leaves the sweetest feeling with me. Go on about the subject matter, about the over emphasis on gestures (it's a silent film, that was the norm) but there is nothing better than to see this gifted and talented man act while he is probably at his most happiest in life.

Since roughly half the voters gave this a 10, I wonder why none of them cared to comment on the film. Question to those 10ers - If this is a 10, what do you give Douglas Fairbanks' "The Iron Mask" or his "The Three Musketeers"? 20's? What gives? To all those not familiar with Silent Films - do NOT let this ranking fool you into believing that this is among the better Silents and lead you into dismissing this Genre! "Sunrise"(1927) has one of the most amazing tracking shot. "Der letzter Mann" aka "The Last Laugh" (1924) is an incisive glimpse into human character as is "Greed" (1924). Remember most of Chaplin's films were silent! Also, I noted that more than half of those commenting (me included) rated this well below the median. Take a peek at the voting breakdown and notice the "bell curve". It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where 300 "extra" votes went.As a period love story, this may be worth watching. To the 10ers - you should take in "Love Story" (1970).

There are silents which still make many today's viewers overwhelmed, including productions on grand scale: the ones of stunning visuals and top notch performances. There are "lost" silents which have been a longstanding dream to see by many but the likelihood for finding them is constantly declining. There are also silents which were meant to entertain and they did serve their purpose in the distant past but do not do that any longer. They have simply failed to stand a test of time. Unfortunately, THE SHEIK, from my point of view, appears to direct towards the latest group but surely does not turn out to be "totally dated" or "unwatchable" Let me analyze the movie in more details. The content is hardly convincing for today's cinema buffs, for the general audience. An English woman Diana Fayo (Agnes Ayres) badly desires freedom since she perceives male-female relation bounds as humiliating and marriage as captivity. She goes for a trip to the Arab city of Biskra hoping for freeing herself from the old bounds of dated tradition and humiliating dependence. Moreover, having met the powerful Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan (Rudolph Valentino) whose slightest wish is law among his people, she takes a trip into the sun garden of the sand, the desert. However, what she is exposed to appears to be absolutely on the contrary to her expectations. She gets into a "more tragic captivity" where no one is likely to find her whereabouts. Sheik Ahmed, who was to be a liberator, is not accustomed to having his orders disobeyed and Diana is not accustomed to obeying orders. What can happen in such unwelcome circumstances?Although the action is pretty unpredictable, today's viewers will not watch the movie for the sake of wondering what will happen. It does not absorb us as much as it absorbed the viewers in the 1920s. The visuals are also far from masterwork and some scenes are pretty boring and tedious. Therefore, we could easily say that THE SHEIK is too seriously dated. But many people would not agree with that opinion. What constitutes the movie's great success still today are the two CAST: one is a symbol, the other one is a beauty.Rudolph Valentino just after his masterpiece, THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE which had premiered in March 1921 and which had introduced him to stardom, was cast in this movie of exotic title and exotic content. He is not a tango dancer nor a soldier for "foreign" France but a sheik. But this is far from his best performance and it is mostly based on pantomime and, from today's perspective, exaggerated mimics. Yet, the presence alone of the silent era symbol made this movie in 1921 and makes it even now in 2007 worth seeing. There must have been interest in this movie since a few years later a sequel THE SON OF THE SHEIK (1926) was made, being at the same time Rudolph's last film. The other person on whose shoulders lies the success of the film is beautiful Agnes Ayres. In fact, she does a much better job as Diana Fayo. She IS a desire incarnate for Valentino and occurs to be very subtle, beautiful, tender - a sort of woman every man would fight for. "Pale hands I love, Beside the Shalimar, Where are you now, Who lies beneath your spell" Yes, the sheik is totally "bewitched" by Diana and Valentino appears to be in love with Ayres. However, there is no such powerful chemistry between the couple like in some other movies of the time. They do good jobs apart from each other.To give you a deeply genuine opinion, I quite enjoyed THE SHEIK but if it had been my first silent, I would not be a silent buff now. What is more, if it had been my first Valentino movie, I would wonder how he could become such a great star. An average movie mostly for silent buffs when you are deeply in the silent era reality. 6/10