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| The Eagle
Year: 1925
Classification: Classics (Silents/Avant Garde)
Directed:
- Clarence Brown
Revenge Is Sweet, But Sometimes A Girl Is Sweeter
Rudolph Valentino stars as a Russian soldier who is out to avenge his father's death. Valentino has been branded a deserter from the Army after rebuffing the advances of the Czarina, and running to his father's aid. Things get more complicated for Rudy, though, because he falls in love with the daughter of the man responsible for his father's tragedy. That's where the title of my review comes from (taken directly from a card in the movie). The film might sound kind of silly, and it is, but it moves along quickly and has enough action to keep it entertaining. Valentino is pretty good as the hero, and thankfully he doesn't overdo gestures and play to the back row like so many silent film stars had to, since they was no sound for dialogue. Vilma Banky and Louise Dresser, as the girlfriend and Czarina, play it up more, but are generally effective in their roles. I got more than I was expecting from this film, and I suspect most viewers will too. I far and away prefer sound films over silent films anyday, but once in a while it is kind of fun to step back in film history and see how things used to be.
One of Rudy's Best Now On DVD.
THE EAGLE was something of a comeback picture for Valentino. His popularity sagged after the disastrous MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE in which he played a foppish aristocat who was a little too foppish for 1920's audiences. This story of a Russian Robin Hood taken from Pushkin was just what he needed to regain his lost fan base. It also gave him the opportunity to let his natural comic flair come forth and really be himself much like Douglas Fairbanks or later Errol Flynn. Rudy took no chances with this film. He got a top flight director in Clarence Brown who would later become Garbo's favorite. He got William Cameron Menzies to design the sets and a wonderful performance from Louise Dresser as Czarina Catherine the Great. Their scene together at the beginning is a delight to watch even on repeated viewings. Vilma Banky makes a great heroine and would work with Valentino again. This movie rather than THE SHIEK or BLOOD AND SAND is the ideal introduction to Valentino. This DVD version is virtually the same as the old VHS version although the picture is marginally better and so 4 stars instead of 5. While it's great to have the Killiam Collection coming out on DVD, I just wish that some new restoration work had been done on this film. The other two (BELOVED ROGUE & TUMBLEWEEDS) are in better shape although they could use some work as well. Still these are superior to the old VHS copies and are likely to be the best we'll have for awhile. Lee Erwin's old organ score is a good one but it could have been sonically enhanced.
Could We Have The Old Version, Please?
If you don't have a copy of Valentino's most engaging silent, "The Eagle", in your collection, you should certainly have this, but you should know that it is far - very far - from the best version that has been available. This edition is sourced from the Killiam Collection, and is evidently from a 16mm reduction print that saw long use and little care. Contrast and detail are poor, to say the least. There is a sad, tired musical accompaniment that is best turned off, frankly.
What's awful about all this is that this same company, Image Entertainment, once offered a far superior version. Its 1989 laserdisc edition was based on a clean 35mm print from the Rohauer Collection that had excellent contrast and detail. The score was a magnificently well-suited one by Carl Davis; it went so well with the film that once you've had a viewing with Davis's compositions, seeing "The Eagle" with any other score is unthinkable.
"The Eagle" is indispensable to a collection of silents, but this edition is not a patch on what Image itself has offered in the past. It is to be hoped that the company can clear whatever obstacles are keeping it from offering a DVD release of what was one of the best silent-film offerings on laserdisc.
Two stars out of five- I'm docking two for the ghastly print, two for the wretched score that takes the place of Davis's work, and adding one back to be charitable, because this movie is one of Valentino's best, and you should have it, even in a version as shabby as this.
Buy The Eagle at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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