SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

evanston_dad "Two Arabian Knights" has the distinction of winning one of the first two Oscars given for Best Direction. In the Academy's first year, 1927-28, the Best Director award was split between dramatic and comedy categories, and "Two Arabian Knights" won the latter. Indeed, it's only the first of two films in Oscar history -- the second being "The Divine Lady" the following year -- to win a Best Director Oscar without being nominated for Best Picture, but since that first year was the only one in which two directing awards were given, it isn't an apples to apples comparison with other years. Lewis Milestone, who certainly deserved to win an Oscar for something and would become the first person to win two directing Oscars when the Academy awarded him the prize two years later for "All Quiet on the Western Front," beat Ted Wilde ("Speedy") to win the one for this film, and I have to say the Academy got it wrong. "Two Arabian Knights" is enjoyable, at times very funny, and features a very fetching Mary Astor (this was the first silent performance I'd ever seen her in), but it doesn't hold a candle to Harold Lloyd's hysterical comedy.If all had gone originally according to plan, we would be saying that both "Two Arabian Knights" and "Speedy" were bested in this category by Charles Chaplin's "The Circus." But the Academy decided to yank Chaplin's film from competitive consideration and instead give it a special award.Grade: B+

J B Thackery Finally, I got to see this legendary masterpiece on TV. When I first heard that there was an Arabian movie featuring the Western icon "Hopalong Cassidy"(William Boyd) and the Gothic icon Boris Karloff, the idea sounded like a disparate joke. (Actually, Karloff only plays a brief, minor role, being new to the silver screen at that time.) The script is very original. The shooting is excellent for the times. And the acting is so well done, you feel what the characters feel, and can easily read the actors' lips for practically every line. Unlike many silent-era films, you get the sensation that you are in this one.The comedy starts right from the opening scene, and I will describe it only to illustrate the unexpected silliness of William Boyd: He is in a night battle in World War I, and drops into a shell crater to avoid German gunfire. His 1st Sergeant, a bully and a brute whom he despises, had just fallen in before him, and is unconscious. Boyd tries to revive him until he sees who he is, and starts slinging mud on the Sergeant's face. He revives and they immediately jump into a fistfight in the mud. When a flare illuminates the night sky, they look up and see the hole is surrounded with numerous Germans with bayonets. The enemy was having a time watching them fight each other! It is an eye opener to see the future Hopalong Cassidy in a real cut-up comedy role, back when he looked like a very young cross between Marlon Brando and Jack Haley.I was very impressed with the nitty-gritty reality in this film about POW's of World War I, in an era when glossed-over heroics and reality-denial dominated war films. Moreover, there is often a timeless feeling, especially during the POW camp scenes, which gives the viewer a sense of closeness to the people of that era; and the understanding that people have at all times in history been, in their own way, "modern."The dual-based plot, (survival and escape, and later a pursuit of romance), rolls steadily through ever-changing backgrounds. The factors of comedy, action, danger, and romance blend harmoniously throughout. The relationship between Boyd's and Wolheim's characters develop from utter hatred, to enduring animosity, to forced survival cooperation, to mild mutual suspiciousness, to amorous competition, to strong friendship.Though this is a silent film from 1927, centered on World War I in Europe and Turkey, I have never had such a modern and timeless feeling from a silent movie. This results from the cool, timeless acting and characterizations, and the excellent directing and shooting.This is the first silent drammatic film my kids have thoroughly enjoyed, (until now only preferring silent comedic standards by Keaton, Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd.)

biil-blakely The third movie produced by Howard Hughes, this gem was thought to be lost. It was recently restored and shown on TCM (12/15/04). The plot is a familiar one - two WW I soldiers escape from a German prison camp (guarded by an extremely lethargic German shepherd, who practically guides them out of the camp), stow away on a ship, and end up in "Arabia", where they rescue the lovely Mary Astor. The restoration is very good overall, although there are two or three very rough sequences. The production is very good, and there are some very funny scenes. And did I mention that Mary Astor is in it? The film won an Academy Award for the now-defunct category of "Best Direction of a Comedy".

gerrythree Turner Classic Movies is showing 'Two Arabian Nights' on December 15, 2004, as part of their salute to Howard Hughes, subject of the new movie "The Aviator." TCM's web site states that their 'salute coincides with this month's theatrical release of The Aviator, Martin Scorsese's film biography of Hughes. Part One includes three silent films from Hughes' early career as a producer that have not been seen since their initial release, along with two key Hughes movies from the early sound era. The silent films are part of an extensive collection of memorabilia donated by the Hughes estate and the Howard Hughes Corporation to the Film Department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and digitally restored through TCM funding by special arrangement with Flicker Alley. Each has a new score by composer Robert Israel.'