The Sheik (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Sheik was a 1921 silent movie directed by George Melford and starring Rudolph Valentino, Agnes Ayres and Adolphe Menjou. It was based on the bestselling romance novel The Sheik by Edith Maude Hull.
Synopsis
Lady Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayres), part of the British ex-patriate community in Algiers, loathes the idea of marriage because she believes it means the end of independence for women. On the very first day of a month-long excursion into the desert she is kidnapped by Ahmed Ben Hassan, (Rudolph Valentino) a wealthy and powerful sheik who takes her to his camp to act as his bride. (In the novel Diana is raped by Sheik Ahmed; however the movie equivocates somewhat on this plot point.) Initially resentful and resistant, Diana eventually is captivated by the charismatic Ahmed Ben Hassan, who in turn comes to regret his treatment of her, particularly after being reprimanded by a friend from his university days, the French author Raoul St. Hubert (Adolphe Menjou). He decides to free Diana, but before he can do so, she is kidnapped by a rival sheik (Walter Long). Diana is saved by Sheik Ahmed during a dramatic rescue, who is seriously injured as a result. Diana nurses him back to health and learns from St. Hubert that Ahmed is actually European, with an English father and a Moorish mother. Ahmed recovers and Diana happily chooses to remain with him.
Critical response was mixed; however, The Sheik proved extremely popular with female movie goers and helped established Valentino as the top male movie star and sex symbol of the day. It also resulted in a new slang term "sheik," meaning a man who woos women aggressively. (The object of a sheik's affection came to be known as a "sheba.") The Sheik was followed by the 1926 sequel The Son of the Sheik that was equally successful.
Cultural Influence and References
The Sheik inspired a number of parodies over the years. It was parodied in 1922 by Mack Sennett in The Shriek of Araby, starring Ben Turpin. Baby Peggy also satirized the film in the short subject Peg O' the Movies (1922). The Elvis Presley film Harum Scarum spoofed The Sheik decades later in 1965.
Chapter one of Art Spiegelman's graphic novel Maus is called "The Sheik," and contains a number of references to Valentino and his most famous film
