Beautiful, moving film.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Along with greats like Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino was one of the greatest and most famous actors of the silent era. Starring in silent classics like "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and "The Sheik", Valentino was an absolute star in his day. Sadly, he died at the young age of 31, just one year after the release of this masterpiece.Mixing elements of comedy, drama, action, romance, and even thriller, "The Eagle" is an astonishingly entertaining work that can please almost any film fan, whether they're an obsessed movie buff or an average movie goer. Don't avoid it because it's a silent film and you're afraid of reading, because if you do avoid it you'd have missed out on something truly spectacular and one of my new all time favorites.

Director Clarence Brown's "The Eagle" is a classic swashbuckler of the silent era. This adventurous black & white saga concerns a renegade Russian officer who deserts from the Imperial Guard and then hero. He vows to kill the man who swindled his father but winds up falling in love with the daughter of the dastard who took advantage of his father. Valentino's character looks like a cross-between of Robin Hood and Zorro. The comparison between Zorro is more apt because Vladimir serves under his clueless adversary, impersonating a French tutor, Monsieur Le Blanc, so he can kill the Count when he least expects it.A handsome Cossack officer, Lieutenant Vladimir Dubrovsky (Rudolph Valentino), is stationed at the court of Catherine the Great. Louise Dresser appears in a cameo as the lusty Czarina. Dubrovsky comes to the Czarina's attention when he halts a runaway carriage just beyond the palace gates. He borrows the Czarina's horse to accomplish this feat. Two women were riding in the carriage. Eventually, our hero falls in love with the beautiful young Mascha (Vilma Banky) who was riding in the vehicle. Meantime, the observant Czarina is impressed by Vladimir's skills as an equestrian. She invites him to dine with her at supper. As the Czarina is preparing everything to take advantage of Vladimir, he scrambles away to safety. No sooner has he snubbed the Czarina than he learns that his father has lost all his lands to the scheming Count Kyrilla (Kyrilla Troekouroff) who has bribed a judge to support his plans. As it turns out, Vladimir's father implores Vladimir to appeal with the Czarina, but it is too late for our unfortunate Vladimir. He decides to embark on a crusade against the Count. Before long, he discovers that Mascha is Kyrille's daughter. By now, Vladimir has taken on the persona of the Black Eagle, an outlaw devoted to avenging his father, whose lands have been taken by an evil count named Kyrilla-- who just happens to be Mascha's father."The Eagle" is an entertaining silent with a cliffhanger ending. This polished production was his third to last film.

I seldom see this title mentioned on lists of great silent films, and perhaps it doesn't belong in the same heady company with the works of Murnau and Eisenstein, but surely The Eagle belongs on anyone's list of the most entertaining movies made during the silent era. It is first-rate escapism, a real "movie-movie" that can hold its own with the best swashbuckling sagas of Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn, and that counts for a lot in my book. It's also one of the best movies in which Rudolph Valentino appeared (along with his next film, The Son of the Sheik, which unfortunately proved to be his last), or in any case it's one that holds up well for modern viewers, offering just the right blend of action, suspense, comedy, and romance, all presented at a brisk tempo. Valentino rapidly improved as an actor during his brief career, so in these final appearances there is no trace of the nostril-flaring histrionics on display in some of his early performances. At the pinnacle of his career as a movie star, Valentino is at the top of his game in this action hero role, charismatic and self-assured, but displaying just a touch of self-mockery to keep things in perspective.Rudy plays a Cossack officer, Lieutenant Dubrovsky, stationed in the court of Catherine the Great. (The Czarina is played by Louise Dresser in a brief but memorable turn.) Dubrovsky catches the Czarina's eye when he manages to regain control of a runaway carriage just outside the palace gates, and in this way he also meets a beautiful young lady named Mascha (Vilma Banky), with whom he becomes involved. The plot kicks into gear when Dubrovsky rejects the Czarina's advances; soon afterward, he assumes the persona of the Black Eagle, an outlaw devoted to avenging his father, whose lands have been appropriated by an evil count named Kyrilla -- who just happens to be Mascha's father. Valentino's character in this film is often described as a "Russian Robin Hood," but the parallel with Zorro is stronger, especially when he manages to operate under the very nose of his arch enemy in the guise of a foppish French tutor, Monsieur Le Blanc. Much of the film's humor comes from these scenes, but when the time comes for action The Black Eagle is all business, and Valentino proves himself as dashing and gallant as Douglas Fairbanks while cutting a more romantic figure.The Eagle points up the importance of silence in Valentino's career, for while he was said to have a pleasant voice it might have been difficult to accept him as a Russian officer in a talkie; let's face it, Rodolfo Alfonzo Raffaele Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentino d'Antonguolla would have a hard time persuading anyone of his Russian heritage if we could hear him speak. Leading lady Vilma Banky, who was as beautiful as Rudy was handsome, spoke limited English with such a thick Hungarian accent that talkies ended her American film career, so this movie could not have worked so well with the same cast as a talkie, even if Valentino had survived into the 1930s. And besides, the highly stylized 19th century "Russia" of this film is very much a Hollywood fantasy concoction anyhow, the sort of thing that worked best in silent cinema. One of my favorite aspects of The Eagle is the elaborate Art Deco design scheme by William Cameron Menzies, which at times almost suggests the world of Dr. Seuss (a bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but not by much). Combine Menzies' sets with the stylish cinematography of George Barnes, spice the mix with George Marion Jr.'s witty title cards, top it off with the slyly tongue-in-cheek performances, and you have all the ingredients for a cinematic feast.In sum, I feel it's the comic elements of The Eagle that make it such a fun film, the sense that the filmmakers are discreetly giving us a little wink to let us know they're well aware this is all cotton candy. Speaking of comedy, the cast features a couple of Keystone veterans in supporting roles: Mack Swain, who was so memorable as the delusional prospector in Chaplin's The Gold Rush, has a brief uncredited bit as an inn-keeper who misunderstands Monsieur Le Blanc's needs; and veteran character actor George Nichols, who plays the corrupt judge, directed a few of Chaplin's earliest comedies, including The Star Boarder and Cruel, Cruel Love. Maybe it's the Keystone pedigree that boosts the comedy content here, but whatever the case this film stands as a highly enjoyable example of what Hollywood craftsmen were capable of when the silent cinema was at its peak.

Worried that Valentino's screen image had become effete after the somewhat arty pictures he had made with his now estranged wife, his studio found him a part that was 100% male but would still include the lovemaking his female audience loved (it turned out the studio chose well-- going by fan mail, this movie proved equally popular with men and women).Valentino's role of Vladimir Dubrowski in "The Eagle,"--a sort of Cossack Robin Hood--was obviously influenced by the Douglas Fairbanks movies, but it's no pallid rip-off. Whereas Fairbanks, much like a male lead in a Spielberg film, tends to keep the hugging and kissing to a minimum, Valentino, although he can handle a sword very skilfully, makes the film his own by balancing the swashbuckling with plenty of wooing. He also shows that he was not above poking fun at his persona as a lady killer, as when besotted by the female lead he overloads his soup with pepper (the die hard Valentino haters always overlook this self depreciating side to his performances). The other performers are strong too—James Marcus is repugnant as the corrupt and cowardly aristocrat Kyrilla who has ruined Vladimir's father (but somehow pathetic in his final scenes when he realizes he has lost his daughter); Louise Dresser is amusing and touching as the post menopausal and horny czarina who becomes murderous when Dubrowski resists her advances, and Vilma Banky is sweet but assertive as the best romantic heroines are, and very affecting in the scenes in which she is torn between her attraction to Dubrowski and her filial love for her unworthy father. The film also sets itself apart from the Fairbanks sort of swashbuckling epic (in which the hero is usually content to mete out punishment to wrongdoers) by raising the question that that maybe vengeance should be left to God rather than men and that as Mascha points out to Vladimir a life totally motivated by hate is a wasted one. In fact the script is so much on the side of forgiveness that even the ruthless Czarina, after a last minute change of heart about Vladimir's execution, is allowed a happy ending--and a more age appropriate suitor.All in all, a very fine comeback vehicle for Valentino—but how sad that it proved to be his penultimate film.