Rudolph Valentino's physical grace is only part of his appeal: he can also make a romantic hero amusing company. The Eagle gives us good reason to value his humour, though its romance is less persuasive.
Fi1m perspective
In The Eagle (1925), Rudolph Valentino's formal bearing is part of the pleasure. As Lt. Vladimir Dubrovsky, he suggests an ease beneath the upright posture that makes a handsome romantic hero surprisingly approachable. Clarence Brown gives this lighter side of his leading man room, instead of hurrying him towards the next piece of action. It is an engaging performance in a good, limited entertainment, and the comedy offers a stronger reason to spend time with him than the love story does.
That lightness complicates an image built on intense looks and elaborate costume. His breakthrough came as Julio Desnoyers in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), with its tango sequence, followed by The Sheik (1921) and the romantic persona that became known as the Latin Lover. Dance mattered to an actor whose silent performances depended on the face and the body's grace. Screenwriter June Mathis was a mentor and worked on both The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Blood and Sand (1922), in which he played a bullfighter. The later move towards action and comedy in The Eagle gave those physical gifts a less solemn use.
Brown also gives Valentino a useful partner in Louise Dresser's Catherine II, whose authority remains formidable even when she makes it funny. We laughed at her pleasure in imperial importance, because Dresser makes rank seem like a privilege she intends to enjoy. Valentino benefits from having someone this assured opposite him; their encounters need not insist on his desirability to hold our attention. He can meet another strong presence without the film having to diminish it for his benefit.
With Vilma Bánky's Mascha Troekouroff, the limitations are harder to overlook. They make an attractive pair, but the romantic passages can feel dutiful, and their appearance together is not enough to make the relationship persuasive. Hanns Kräly's screenplay is more successful at keeping things light than at giving that attachment much weight, so the fault is not Valentino's alone. Start with The Eagle for the humour, and do not expect the courtship to be its strongest attraction.
Biography
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor who appeared in numerous silent films of the 1920s. He played Julio Desnoyers in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), Ahmed Ben Hassan in The Sheik (1921), and Lt. Vladimir Dubrovsky in The Eagle (1925).
Valentino died on 23 August 1926 at the age of 31. His death prompted widespread public reaction among fans.
