Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The acting in this movie is really good.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Made three years after the end of WW1, the one thing which stood out for me in this film was the blatant unapologetic racism. When Lady Diana thought that the man who kidnapped and carried her off to his desert tent was an Arab, she was ashamed and humiliated to be seen with him, despite his constant references to his life and education in Paris, but when it was revealed he was the orphaned child of an English mother and Spanish father and had been adopted by the old sheik after his parents had been found dying in the desert, then it was acceptable to fall in love and marry him. In one scene his writer friend from Paris admonished him for the embarrassment and humiliation he had inflicted upon a white woman by flaunting her in front of a man of her own race. That aside, this was quite fun to watch and the settings of old Algiers and the luxurious desert tent were excellent. I particularly liked the stylish title cards. Perhaps it was the cameras they were working with in 1921, but I did feel they could have used more close ups rather than the long shots. When they made the sequel in 1925, the difference was noticeable, lots of close ups and different angles. One scene in the desert appeared to be missing. Diana was rescued from the bandits without us ever seeing how or why, but considering the volatility of the old nitrate films and that many we see today are remnants found in obscure collections and pieced together bit by bit, that can be forgiven.

I started watching this film because I had recently read about Valentino in book on the 1920's era. I was immediately drawn into the story, and I must admit, attracted to the actor himself. (I can see what all those fans saw in him.) Anyway, the story is well told, and the two leads have very good chemistry together. Valentino plays a dashing Arab sheik who falls in love with a feisty white woman, and carries her off to his camp in the desert. Slowly, she falls for him as well, and he comes to realize how much he truly cares for her. There's a bit of a Beauty and the Beast feel to it also.As it is with all silent films, it's very fun watching the differences in acting styles then vs. now. Since the actors had no real vocal power to convey the story, they had to express it mostly through gestures and facial expressions. (Though dialog is added here and there on screen.) It's a very interesting way to watch a movie. I always enjoy it. If you're going to watch a silent film at any time, I highly recommend this one. It's worth it!

I read the book many years ago, and also read a biography on Rudolph Valentino. At last I have finally got to watch the film on DVD. To me it was a lesson in how not to do two things at the same time. To truly watch a silent movie you really can't be doing something else. Not a bad thing really. Seeing the facial expressions told the story as much as the lovely old script text, and piano music. I wonder if modern day actors and actresses could convey the story and how they are feeling today. I am sure that a lot of women would still "swoon" at Rudolph Valentino when he gives that magnetic smile, not to mention the men with the contrasting emotions of feisty to demure of Agnes Ayers. A good old fashioned romance with a happy ending, but like all films,never a clone of the book. Definitely worth viewing, if only for nostalgia's sake.

For reasons difficult for mere man to diagnose, the sheik represented the ultimate in masculine appeal… Call it the mystery of the burning sands, the magic lure of the tropics, the titillating uncertainty of the unfamiliar, the reputed animal magnetism of the Arab aristocrat—these are mere words which leave the cult of this particular sheik unexplained… Give Valentino a burnoose, a bejeweled dagger and fancy belt, a pair of riding boots, a luxurious tent with intimations of a harem in the background and a well-cushioned couch in the foreground, and he became irresistible… To be borne in his arm on a white Arabian stallion, struggling virtuously but not too violently, was apparently the goal of nearly every woman's ambition… Much of the action of "The Sheik" consisted of a menacing Valentino staring at a pleading Agnes Ayres while they warily circled each other in preparation for the clinch that was a long time coming