Two Arabian Knights (1927)

Such a frustrating disappointment

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

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.

A pair of US Marines, Sergeant Louis Wolheim and future Hopalong Cassidy William Boyd are captured during action in World War I and then escape. But it isn't back to the western front. No these two head a little southeast into the Ottoman Empire which was a Central Power though by the time America got into World War I it was breaking up and pretty much out of action.The only reason these two are walking around in their Marine uniforms with little notice by anyone. There's also a bit of romance involved for Boyd who if this sound and he could sing would warble a tune like Bing Crosby with Louis Wolheim doing the heavy lifting for the comedy.The romance comes with Arabian princess Mary Astor, but she has herself Ian Keith of the Turkish army interested and besides that it's dad who negotiates the marriage deals. The recent troubles stemming from the Middle East kind of puts a damper on a film like Arabian Knights. The film also plays a lot like the Errol Flynn World War II era film Desperate Journey where the Nazis are so colossally stupid it's pathetic as well as a Bing&Bob road fest.The humor is the rough house kind and Wolheim is a master of it. Boyd is your All American hero with the firm jawline. It did get an Oscar nomination for director Lewis Milestone in that first year of the Oscars.A good opportunity to get acquainted with Louis Wolheim who died too young and to see Bill Boyd as something other than Hopalong Cassidy.

"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+

William Boyd and Louis Wolheim are the "Two Arabian Knights" referred to in the title, humorously. The pair start out as U.S. POWs trying to escape from the Germans during World War I. Eventually, they find themselves on board a ship bound for Arabia. While tripping out to the Middle East, they rescue an Arab woman, Mary Astor, who turns out to be a Princess; and, of course, becomes a romantic interest for the "Two Arabian Knights". No points for guessing who wins the veiled Ms. Astor!The film is very well photographed and directed; Lewis Milestone has wonderful sets, and stages scenes beautifully. Of the performances, Mr. Wolheim stands out - he creates a character so understandable you can almost hear him speak, trough the film is silent. The story isn't as strong as it could be - there are some events and sequences which had me wondering how and why the characters' locale changed. The last looks, exchanged between one of the stars and an extra, is an example of something I didn't understand. Perhaps these were comic bits which had a particular appeal for the time.The film is damaged in several places; but there is enough preserved, in even these scenes, to allow your mind to fill in the visual blanks. Boris Karloff appears as the "Purser"; watch for his big scene on ship, when Wolheim goes into a room with him for some money (what actually happens is a mystery). Early in the film, there is a long scene with a lot of naked men shown from the waist up (or, thereabouts); they are POWs being herded to the showers. Director Milestone uses parades of soldiers moving to great effect; this "shower" scene is different in that several of the men don't look as Caucasian as you might expect.******* Two Arabian Knights (9/23/27) Lewis Milestone ~ William Boyd, Louis Wolheim, Mary Astor

TCM came through by acquiring this wonderful, silent, comedy/drama for television. Until recently it had been locked away in an achieve somewhere. It premiered on TV for the 1st time since its theatrical release in 1927. Two Americans fighting in World War I (William Boyd and Louis Wolheim) are hiding in a defensive position with German soldiers advancing. They however are fighting with each other and working the nerve of one-an-other. They of course are caught, but after an inventive escape they are taken on a whirlwind adventure in Arabia, with all the humor you might find in an Abbott and Costello movie. Very funny and sometimes even touching. A great silent picture and winner of an Academy Award for "Best Comedy Direction". Directed by Lewis Milestone.