two arabian knights
two arabian knights - - (movie clip) all the way ...
receives pilots license, makes the silent comedy two arabian knights with director lewis milestone .
fortunately, two arabian knights debuted on tcm so there was no need to kill anyone after all .
divorced from ella rice, two arabian knights wins an oscar for best director of a comedy picture .
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing two arabian knights near you .
caption: a german prison camp scene in
two arabian knights
, a united artists feature directed byh lewis milestone, in which william boyd and louis wolheim appear as doughboy adventurers .
two arabian knights
is the initial offering of caddo productions, a new united artists unit .
two years later he directed two arabian knights, for which he later won the first and only academy award for best direction of a comedy picture. (in 1930 the comedy and drama categories were merged. )
caption: fighting men of seven or more nations appear in
two arabian knights
, with william boyd and louis wolheim, a comedy drama in which a german prison camp provides one of the most interesting settings. a united artists feature, produced by caddo procudtions ,
two arabian knights
has lewis milestone as director .
i saw two arabian knights on tcm a while back and really enjoyed it. this film was considered to be lost at one time until a print was found in howard hughes' personal film collection after his death .
june 20— two arabian knights (1927), 1: 30 a. m. a silent film where two american soldiers fight to escape the germans while squabbling over a beautiful harem girl during world war i. cast includes william boyd (later hopalong cassidy), mary astor and louis wolhiem .
opening scenes, soldier phelps (william boyd) and sergeant mcgaffney (louis wolheim) in world war i france, think they' re about to die, in director lewis milestone' s silent service comedy two arabian knights, 1927 .
opening scenes, soldier phelps (william boyd) and sergeant mcgaffney (louis wolheim) in world war i france, think they' re about to die, in director lewis milestone' s silent service comedy two arabian knights, 1927. >
two arabian knights was one of several films that launched the hollywood career of howard hughes. classics like hell’s angels and scarface would follow. the wild ride would come to a sorry end with the conqueror (john wayne as genghis khan. enough said .) some thirty years later. but it was fun while it lasted. two arabian knights is one of the cuter action comedies of the later silent period, the sort of thing douglas fairbanks produced so well in the ‘teens. see it if you get the opportunity .
restored by the ucla television and film archives, it has now been brought to dvd in a splendid two - disc special edition by the specialty distributor flicker alley, which in collaboration with blackhawk films and david shepard’s film preservation associates has re - introduced the public to long - unseen films like “two arabian knights” and “bardelys the magnificent. ”
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…
caption: ballet skirts? no. the robes worn by william boyd and louis wolheim are arabian burnooses, frozen stiff from immersion in a pond of water into which boyd and wolheim are plunged while escaping from a german prison camp in
two arabian knights
, a comedy drama of two doughboys' adventures in france, germany and arabia. the picture, filmed by caddo productions as a united artists special, has lewis milestone as director .
escaped from their german captors, american private phelps (william boyd) and sergeant mcgaffney (louis wolheim) on an arab steamer, entranced by princess mirza (mary astor), in lewis milestone' s two arabian knights, 1927, art direction by william cameron menzies. >
caption: a romantic scene between william boyd and his leading lady, mary astor, in the post - war comedy drama
two arabian knights
, filmed by caddo productions as a united artist feature, with lewis milestone as director. louis wolheim is the third featured player .
adventures of two american soldiers who escape from german captivity and end up in arabia .
two arabian knights may not be the best of lewis milestone' s films that i' ve seen (that title still goes to the astonishing all quiet on the western front), but it' s certainly his most watchable and enjoyable; a very charming comedy bolstered by two terrific performances by william boyd and louis wolheim, with handsome sets and a refreshing comic innocence .
two arabian knights was one of the fortunate rediscoveries and its reappearance was hailed for several reasons. first, it is among the earliest surviving howard hughes - produced film. second, it is the film that won director lewis milestone the first and only oscar for best direction of a comedic film .
the reviews of the time for howard hughes' second production effort seemed to all agree that
two arabian knights
( 1927) was good comedy. viewing today supports that opinion; however, don' t be led to believe it comes anywhere close to the chaplin - keaton - lloyd caliber of comedy .
caption: a narrow escape! william boyd and louis wolheim in one of the many thrilling scenes of
two arabian knights
, a united artists feature in which these two, doughboy
buddies
, flee from a german prison camp only to be drawn into greater complication in the land of harems. the producing organization is a new united artists unit, caddo, productions, and the director is lewis milestone .
caption: william boyd and louis wolheim, in the foreground, as
private phelps
and
sergeant o' gaffney
, in
two arabian knights
, a new united artists feature supervised by john w. considine jr. and filmed under the banner of caddo productions, new united artists unit. the director is lewis milestone .
theseus, duke of athens, imprisons arcite and palamon, two knights from thebes (another city in ancient greece). from their prison, the knights see and fall in love with theseus’s sister - in - law, emelye. through the intervention of a friend, arcite is freed, but he is banished from athens. he returns in disguise and becomes a page in emelye’s chamber. palamon escapes from prison, and the two meet and fight over emelye. theseus apprehends them and arranges a tournament between the two knights and their allies, with emelye as the prize. arcite wins, but he is accidentally thrown from his horse and dies. palamon then marries emelye .
two american soldiers are captured by the germans on the western front during world war one and escape a pow camp only to stumble into further life - threatening adventures when they come across an arabian king' s daughter while on the lam .
two arabian knights ,
the current picture at the paramount theatre, is a genuinely clever comedy in which the principals scorn the usual fractious tactics and rely on intelligent acting. the two actors who supply the fun in this bright piece of work are william boyd, the hero of demille' s
volga boatman ,
and louis wolheim, a stage and screen portrayer of choice villainy who figured as captain flagg in the play ,
what price glory .
view full article in timesmachine »
two arabian knights weirdly makes unquestioned heroes out of people who, during the first world war, both abandon loyalty to their country to fight for preservation of self (very bold for a film released less than a decade after that war actually ended) and insult multiple countries and cultures along the way (icky! , especially when you throw in the whitewashing of actors in roles of color) .
with this film, frank lloyd became one of only two directors to win the best director oscar without their movie also being nominated for best picture. the only other film to win a directing oscar without a best picture nomination was two arabian knights (1927), which won the only oscar ever given for comedy direction to lewis milestone. both lloyd and milestone won additional best director oscars for directing best picture winners, lloyd for cavalcade (1933) and milestone for all quiet on the western front (1930) .
uddy comedies do not come better. during the great war, two squabbling soldiers are captured by the germans. they escape, rescuing an arabian princess in the process. cute film with a strong cast and a lively pace. one of the early silents produced by howard hughes .
“these films have incredible significance within the history of american film, ” said professor francisco menendez, unlv film department chair. “ the racket is considered to be the first feature - length gangster film and two arabian knights received its academy recognition when the oscars still split up comedy and drama. professor hart wegner worked for several years to bring the hughes collection to unlv, and we see it as the cornerstone for a serious film research facility. ”
in this silent film, two american soldiers fight to escape the germans while squabbling over a beautiful harem girl during world war i .
masino noted that the films were in
fairly rough condition ,
( 6) and although
two arabian knights
is excellent quality throughout most of the film, there are a few instances where mild mottling is apparent and a couple of scenes where the mottling does interfere with the viewing. as usual, robert israel' s orchestra score is superb. you' ll particulary like the lovely melody during boyd' s and astor' s lovemaking scenes .
caption: william boyd and louis wolheim in a scene from
two arabian knights
, united artists production. boyd and wolheim, in this film, are a carefree team of doughboys who wade through a series fo hilarious situations and adventures in arabia after escaping from a german prison. mary astor is the heroine of the story, which was filmed by caddo productions, new united artists' unit, under the direction of john w. considine, jr .
director lewis milestone' s 1927 comedy follows the exploits of two american soldiers during wwi. starring william boyd, mary astor and louis wolheim .
splits rko into two entities: rko pictures inc. and rko theatres corp. he sells rko pictures to a subsidy or general tire and rubber .
the emir orders the americans killed for daring to despoil his daughter. shevket, who hated phelps at first sight, is ready and willing to carry out the order personally. so phelps and o’gaffney are alone in arabia with prices on their heads. what do they do? if you guessed “squabble”, you are absolutely correct! two arabian knights is a darling comedy with nary a false step. the plot is sheer nuttiness, the acting is pitch perfect and there is just enough slapstick to keep things interesting .
the films, which have not been seen for more than 50 years, are digitally restored through tcm funding by special arrangement with flicker alley. each has a new score by composer robert israel. two arabian knights (1927), which won the only academy award given for best comedy direction, is about a pair of roughnecks who pose as arabs to escape from a world war i prison camp. the racket (1928), nominated for best picture, is an expose of chicago gangsterdom. the mating call (1928) includes many typical hughes touches .
two arabian knights is the oldest surviving film produced by howard hughes. it was thought lost for many decades, until a print was found in hughes' vaults after his death (unfortunately, the print is badly decayed in some scenes). none other than a young boris karloff has a small part as the purser on the russian ship that takes phelps and o' gaffney to arabia. this film won an academy award for
best director, comedy picture
for lewis milestone. this award was never given again, instead being fused with
best director, dramatic picture
to form a single best director award .
: there may be no marriage. mirza' s servant has told me strange things of two americans - - he has even said she unveiled her face before one of the infidels .
( 1926). (the two films share a common writer, james t. o' donohoe, and, in each, the two male leads enjoy the same bickering relationship .) according to higham, hughes not only agreed to produce the picture but eventually put $ 500, 000 of his own money into it. he cast louis wolheim, william boyd (later to play hopalong cassidy) and mary astor in the leads and made a deal with jesse l. lasky to release the film .
relates the adventures of a sergeant (wolheim) and a private (boyd) who are captured by the germans and escape by disguising themselves as arabs. dispatched to the middle east, both doughboys fall for a beautiful arabian princess (astor), but must deal with a gang of cut - throats led by her father .
during world war i, soldier w. daingerfield phelps iii (william boyd) and sergeant peter o' gaffney (louis wolheim) are captured by the germans. initially at odds, the two prisoners of war bond and plot an escape. the white robes they use as camouflage in the snow - covered landscape make them look like arabs. taking advantage of their disguise, the two men sneak onto a cargo ship bound for arabia, where they both fall for mirza (mary astor), a soon - to - be - married harem girl .
the next day a boat arrives at the ship to take mirza home. this is the first encounter between phelps and mirza' s betrothed - shevket ben ali - played handsomely and threateningly by ian keith. no words are exchanged - the two simply glare at one another - no words necessary .
it seems to me this snappy and sexy late silent — it opened in new york in december 1927, two months after “the jazz singer” — is a much superior film to not only its suprisingly threadbare oscar - winning successor, but is also better than william wellman’s nonmusical remake “roxie hart” (1942) .
it is on the ship that we encounter the beautiful and very young (she was 21 at the time) mary astor as the arabian princess mirza. why she is on a small boat with a makeshift sail alongside this freighter, we do not know. however, the small boat capsizes dumping her and several others into the ocean, and phelps and o' gaffney dive in to rescue her .
in september 1928 warner bros. pictures purchased a majority interest in first national pictures, and from that point on all
first national
productions were actually made under warner bros. control, even though the two companies continued to retain separate identities until the mid -' 30s, after which time
a warner bros. - first national picture
was often used .
two subsequent plays flopped, and watkins went to toil as a hollywood screenwriter — her most notable co - credit there was the classic newspaper comedy “libeled lady. ” she moved to florida in 1940, became a reclusive christian scientist, and died in 1969. it was only after this that bob fosse was able to obtain rights for his stage musical from her heirs .
when the lover moves to dump the grasping roxie, she plugs him in a moment of passion. and it’s up to her chump husband to keep roxie from the electic chair. intrestingly, the role is played not by a nebbishly actor as in the two later movies — george chandler in 1942 and john c. reilly sixty years later — but by the handsome victor varconi, who is far more attractive than the wealthier pallette .
princess mirza (mary astor) is engaged to shevket ben ali (ian keith) but she finds phelps much, much nicer. however, she is obedient to her father and will go through with her marriage. two problems present themselves. first, phelps is not a guy who gives up easily. second, mirza’s servants have seen her canoodling with phelps and have reported the unseemly goings - on to her father and her fiancé .
mary astor, who could be a powerhouse when given the chance, is pretty much there for window dressing. she’s a lovely, if not exactly authentic, arabian nights princess complete with veil. oh and boris karloff? he is in the film for about 12 seconds as the purser of the russian ship. keep your eyes peeled, blink and you miss him. the exotic locales are pretty much by the book and fodder for gags with no real character to them. no matter, because cast and audience are having a ball .
the host pokes fun at the cook, riding at the back of the company, blind drunk. the cook is unable to honor the host’s request that he tell a tale, and the manciple criticizes him for his drunkenness. the manciple relates the legend of a white crow, taken from the roman poet ovid’s metamorphoses and one of the tales in the arabian nights. in it, phoebus’s talking white crow informs him that his wife is cheating on him. phoebus kills the wife, pulls out the crow’s white feathers, and curses it with blackness .
one of the first things howard hughes built was a motorized bicycle, using parts from a dismantled steam engine. well, no pressure, our bikes are manual and we don' t have any dismantled steam engines lying around, but what we do have are miles and miles of trails to take you to the ocean or as far inland as your heart desires. just show up at the toy box, also known as building 18, sign your name, don your helmut, and you' re off. a skid or two' s ok, but no wheelies, please .
private phelps and sergeant mcgaffney, who are constantly scrapping until they meet a common foe, are taken prisoners by germans during the war, and failing many attempts to escape, they succeed in slipping out in arab disguise. finding themselves on a steamer bound for jaffa, mcgaffney, phelps, and the ship' s captain discover themselves rivals for mirza, an arab girl of rank. young phelps makes progress with her by sign language, even to the point of making her remove her veil. in jaffa, a spying servant informs shevket, her fiancé, of her acquaintance with the american, and her father, the emir, plots to imprison them, but they are saved by the american consul. the emir makes the soldiers knights so that phelps can fight a duel with shevket; but in a series of escapades, the boys foil their enemies and abscond with the girl .
the merchant reflects on the great difference between the patient griselde of the clerk’s tale and the horrible shrew he has been married to for the past two months. the host asks him to tell a story of the evils of marriage, and he complies. against the advice of his friends, an old knight named january marries may, a beautiful young woman. she is less than impressed by his enthusiastic sexual efforts, and conspires to cheat on him with his squire, damien. when blind january takes may into his garden to copulate with her, she tells him she wants to eat a pear, and he helps her up into the pear tree, where she has sex with damien. pluto, the king of the faeries, restores january’s sight, but may, caught in the act, assures him that he must still be blind. the host prays to god to keep him from marrying a wife like the one the merchant describes .
because he also does carpentry, the reeve takes offense at the miller’s tale of a stupid carpenter, and counters with his own tale of a dishonest miller. the reeve tells the story of two students, john and alayn, who go to the mill to watch the miller grind their corn, so that he won’t have a chance to steal any. but the miller unties their horse, and while they chase it, he steals some of the flour he has just ground for them. by the time the students catch the horse, it is dark, so they spend the night in the miller’s house. that night, alayn seduces the miller’s daughter, and john seduces his wife. when the miller wakes up and finds out what has happened, he tries to beat the students. his wife, thinking that her husband is actually one of the students, hits the miller over the head with a staff. the students take back their stolen goods and leave .
the events taking place on the ship provide several entertaining moments. unconscious, mirza is taken by the despicable turkish captain to a cabin. his intentions are made clear by the panning of the camera from her feet, along her body, to her head - so the viewer may see how the skipper is talking a lustful view of his unexpected passenger. of course, phelps and o' gaffney are soon vying to be the first to see her without her veil, and their shenanigans to outsmart each other provide some of the film' s most humorous moments. for example, the two are waiting for their clothes to dry after their rescue plunge - both intending to go check on mirza as soon as the clothes are wearable. o' gaffney gets the idea that he will go into the bath, close the door, and soak phelps' uniform in the tub so he can get out the door faster. phelps catches on, and once o' gaffney is fully dressed to go, he pushes the sergeant into the tub full of water .
the host is dismayed by the tragic injustice of the physician’s tale, and asks the pardoner to tell something merry. the other pilgrims contradict the host, demanding a moral tale, which the pardoner agrees to tell after he eats and drinks. the pardoner tells the company how he cheats people out of their money by preaching that money is the root of all evil. his tale describes three riotous youths who go looking for death, thinking that they can kill him. an old man tells them that they will find death under a tree. instead, they find eight bushels of gold, which they plot to sneak into town under cover of darkness. the youngest goes into town to fetch food and drink, but brings back poison, hoping to have the gold all to himself. his companions kill him to enrich their own shares, then drink the poison and die under the tree. his tale complete, the pardoner offers to sell the pilgrims pardons, and singles out the host to come kiss his relics. the host infuriates the pardoner by accusing him of fraud, but the knight persuades the two to kiss and bury their differences .
americans sgt. peter o' gaffney and one of his soldiers, privileged
pretty boy
w. daingerfield phelps iii (who is always drawing caricatures), are captured and interred at a pow camp in northern germany near the end of wwi. their relationship has always been an antagonistic one based on what phelps sees as o' gaffney pushing him around. o' gaffney' s rank is despite being wanted by the police back home as a con man. it is because of these differences that their resulting friendship at camp is so unlikely, the friendship based on both having the nerve to attempt to escape. on a snow covered day, they do manage to escape, in part by stealing white robes to camouflage themselves against the snow. in their adventures and misadventures on the outside in trying to get to safety, those adventures which include being mistaken for arab prisoners, they find themselves as stowaways on board a cargo ship headed to arabia. it is there that they meet a beautiful arab woman named mirza, who they save from drowning. they are both immediately smitten by her, which is why they are so disappointed to learn that she is betrothed in an arranged marriage to the ruthless shevket ben ali. as the two try to reach the safety of an american consulate, they also decide to try and liberate mirza, which may be more dangerous than fighting in the trenches in the battlefields of france .
a growing source of silent era film information. this listing is from the progressive silent film list by carl bennett. copyright © 1999 - 2018 by carl bennett and the silent era company. all rights reserved .
cast: william boyd [ private w. daingerfield phelps iii ], mary astor [ mirza / anis bin adham ], louis wolheim [ sergeant peter o’gaffney ], ian keith [ shevket ], michael vavitch [ the emir of jaffa ], m. visaroff (michael visaroff) [ the ship captain ], boris karloff [ the purser ], dewitt jennings [ american consul ], nicholas dunaev [ mirza’s man servant ], jean vachon [ mirza’s maid servant ], denis d’auburn [ the emir’s advisor ]
survival status: print exists in the university of nevada, las vegas, film department film archive (howard hughes collection) .
references: film credits, film viewing: dowd - vidor pp. 88, 289; nollen - karloff p. 34; vermilye - twenties p. 16: clasim - 302 p. 12: website - imdb .
early women filmmakers: an international anthology (1902 - 1943). films by blaché, weber, dulac and more! available from amazon
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lakeith stanfield and his sorry to bother you director boots riley discuss the stress of filming sex scenes .
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americans sgt. peter o' gaffney and one of his soldiers, privileged
pretty boy
w. daingerfield phelps iii (who is always drawing caricatures), are captured and interred at a pow camp in northern germany near the end of wwi. their relationship has always been an antagonistic one based on what phelps sees as o' gaffney pushing him around. o' gaffney' s rank is despite being wanted by the police back home as a con man. it is because of these differences that their resulting friendship at camp is so unlikely, the friendship based on both having the nerve to attempt to escape. on a snow covered day, they do manage to escape, in part by stealing white robes to camouflage themselves against the snow. in their adventures and misadventures on the outside in trying to get to safety, those adventures which include being mistaken for arab prisoners, they find themselves as stowaways on board a cargo ship headed to arabia. it is there that they meet a beautiful arab woman named mirza, who they save ...
drop in tonite and see the greatest soldier comedy ever filmed - much better than rookies. (print ad - the leader - courier, (( elk point, sd) ) 1 march 1928 )
in december, 2004, the film was aired on television for the first time on turner classic movies with a newly - commissioned musical score .
when o' gaffney has his feet up on the table, and is told that per local custom he' s insulting others present by doing that, he takes his feet down twice .
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this film details the exploits of eternally - squabbling sergeant louis wolheim and private william boyd. captured by the germans during wwi, our heroes escape by disguising themselves as arabs. this clever masquerade wins wolheim and boyd free passage to arabia, where they go about rescuing a fetching harem girl .
donald mcgibney, james o' donohue, wallace smith, george marion jr .
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this story was better than lethal weapon 4. . interstellar and the last 5 johnny depp movies combined .
i enjoyed watching this silent movie. there were only a few places that this film was blurry but other wise the quality was good and clear. it is a fun ...
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eventually phelps and o' gaffney make friends and escape from the pow camp. they are recaptured and (because they are wearing bathrobes from the showers to blend into the snow) placed in a column of arab prisoners of war. they escape again, jumping from a moving train into a haycart, which promptly loads its hay onto a ship bound for arabia. while on the ship, they meet an arab princess, mirza (mary astor). mirza and phelps fall in love, but she has already been pledged to marry an arab prince .
arranged marriage: mirza has been pledged in marriage to an arab count. she likes phelps a lot better .
bar brawl: o' gaffney starts one in a bar because he' s irritated at a local that keeps staring at him .
bedlah babe: when phelps and o' gaffney find mirza again, she' s wearing the stereotypical bra and harem pants .
bilingual backfire: when mirza reveals that she speaks english, phelps and o' gaffney are embarrassed by the crude comments they made in her presence .
exact words: our heroes ask the emir, mirza' s father, for a reward and protection on the streets. the emir' s servant says
follow me and you will never be bothered on the streets again .
the emir has ordered that phelps and o' gaffney should be killed for dishonoring mirza .
literal ass kicking: o' gaffney kicks phelps in the behind while mustering him and the other soldiers in the pow camp .
love triangle: unsurprisingly, mirza picks young, handsome phelps instead of older, grizzled o' gaffney .
meet cute: phelps and o' gaffney meet mirza when her rowboat overturns and they have to dive into the ocean to save her .
vitriolic best buds: phelps and o' gaffney are introduced trading punches in the middle of a battle. they make friends in the pow camp, but they still snipe at each other .
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home media availability: this film has never been released on dvd or made available via streaming .
the discovery of a film that had been presumed lost is always a joyful experience for fans of classic cinema. too many wonderful movies have fallen victim to neglect, decay and, unfortunately, outright vandalism .
and then there is the cast. william boyd and mary astor star with a then - unknown boris karloff in a bit part. hopalong cassidy romancing brigid o’shaughnessy with frankenstein supporting? plus the always wonderful louis wolheim? who do i have to kill ?
the tale concerns the adventures of a wwi soldier and his sergeant. w. dangerfield phelps (william boyd) is an old money smart aleck who is constantly harassed by the thuggish sgt. peter o’gaffney (louis wolheim). the pair carry their squabbling onto the battlefield and even keep it up when they are captured by the germans and sent to a pow camp. in the face of a common problem, o’gaffney and phelps bury the hatchet (though not too deeply) and plot a jailbreak. they finally succeed by donning burnooses and posing as arabs. from there, the unlikely allies catch a russian ship bound for arabia .
en route, o’gaffney and phelps rescue a shipwrecked princess who is returning home to arabia. all bets are off. o’gaffney and phelps bicker about who gets to flirt with the young lady .
louis wolheim is particularly fun as the endearingly crude sgt. o’gaffney. with his smashed nose (courtesy of football injuries) and burly build, he is the classic movie tough but he exudes a winning charm that makes him almost cuddly. he and william boyd have great comedic chemistry as a pair of frenemies in the what price glory mode. (wolheim had starred in the stage version. )
bad news here: copyright issues are holding this film back from home video release. it does air occasionally on tcm so set your recorders .
safety last! is one of the most iconic silent comedies and the criterion collection does it proud with a fully loaded release that includes three harold lloyd shorts: take a chance (1918), young mr. jazz (1919), and his royal slyness (1920) .
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hollywood then and now by rosemary lord. a beautiful look at hollywood’s past and how it compares to the modern city. includes lots of movie studio and movie - related images .
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cast: william boyd (w. dangerfield phelps iii), mary astor (mirza), louis wolheim (sergeant peter o' gaffney), ian keith (shevket), michael vevitch (the emir). m. visatoff (the skipper), boris karloff (the purser), dewitt jennings (american consul )
photoplay said ,
this is a real comedy .
( 1) the new york times called it a
genuinely clever comedy ,
( 2) and harrison' s reports simply began their review with
good !
( 3 )
boyd is w. dangerfield phelps iii, of a wealthy philadelphia family, and wolheim is peter o' gaffney, who, we learn, is a small - time crook who apparently has found refuge in the army. the film gets off to a rousing start as we are shown a very realistic nighttime battle scene, rain pouring and nothing but mud all around. phelps jumps into an unusually deep bomb crater and find another soldier lying unconscious, covered in mud. he goes to help him, but when he realizes it is sergeant o' gaffney, he pushes the sergeant' s face back down angrily and throws mud in his face. of course, when o' gaffney awakes, they end up in a fistic battle that continues until o' gaffney, lying on his back, looks up and sees a proportionately spaced circle of germans around the top of the hole, guns and bayonets extended in perfect unity. milestone framed an excellent shot from o' gaffney' s perspective looking up at the imposing sight. the added touch of a flare bursting overhead makes the shot all the more impressive .
later, we see phelps on deck with mirza and o' gaffney inside the cabin in his tunic and long johns looking for his pants. later we find out that phelps was wearing his own pants and o' gaffney' s !
the final section of the film involves the boys' efforts to get to mirza. the captain of the ship has gone to the american consulate because o' gaffney
rolled
( as in
robbed) his purser, so they can' t go there for help. shevket tells mirza' s father that the
infidels
have seen mirza without her veil, so the father declares that they must dies. however, the boys unwittingly and blithely walk up to palace for an audience with the father thinking he will reward them for rescuing their daughter .
mirza sees them at the gate from a balcony overlooking the courtyard and quickly throws them a note. at the same time, the gates are opening for them, so they decide to read the note later. after meeting the father, they think they are being escorted toward some reward when phelps pulls the note out to read which reads ,
do not enter - death !
the boys barely escape, but now they are fugitives in the town. of course, o' gaffney wants to leave, but phelps refuses to leave without mirza .
there are some neat turns and twists as they make their way back to the palace, and phelps is caught by shevket and his guards in mirza' s room. a particularly neat surprise has been built into the story when shevket offers to have a duel with phelps - with the winner taking mirza. the duel is with pistols, but, as shevket explains, one has a real bullet - the other a blank cartridge .
1. photoplay magazine. november 1927. 2. the new york times. october 24, 1927. 3. harrison' s reports. october 29, 1927. 4. the new york times 5. photoplay 6. king, susan .
putting howard hughes' films back on the radar .
los angeles times. december 15, 2004 .
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an oscar oddity, winning in the comedy directing category that became defunct after the first year (frank borzage was noted for his dramatic directing in
7th heaven
, a classic of the silent era). lewis milestone will revisit the world war i trenches in
all quiet on the western front
to heartrending effect, but here the laughs come quick. for the most part... yeah... there are a few good gags, though the premise is paper thin .
but director lewis milestone, along with cinematopgrahers tony gaudio and joseph h. august, really know how to shoot a film. dynamic and fluid camerawork and interesting lighting that take advantage of the constantly changing set designs that come from the ambition to make this a true globe - trotter .
enjoyed this buddy comedy about a soldier and his sergeant as they escape a pow camp in wwi, fall for the same woman aboard a ship, and have to duel her brother for her hand. silly, light on its feet, great chemistry, good fun .
every film that has ever been nominated for an academy award in any category. enjoy !
complete list of dan sallitt’s favorite films. films are listed in chronological order and then ranked within each year. refer…
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has said, and his novels enact and display that fragmentation with terror and glee. his new book assures us that reality has lately been crumbling more colossally than ever, and is about to come completely unglued. the climate destabilisation we are experiencing is only a foretaste of advancing chaos, which the author describes with considerable relish. eschatological lightning strikes, oracular infants and local failures of gravity will become the norm, as the dark ifrits, the mischievous forces of disorder, begin to take advantage of the weakening of the fabric of the everyday .
the cumbrous title transcribes a certain number of days into years and months, but not the four weeks that would naturally complete it, because the word “nights” is needed to suggest the original thousand and one. rushdie is our scheherazade, inexhaustibly enfolding story within story and unfolding tale after tale with such irrepressible delight that it comes as a shock to remember that, like her, he has lived the life of a storyteller in immediate peril. scheherazade told her 1, 001 tales to put off a stupid, cruel threat of death; rushdie found himself under similar threat for telling an unwelcome tale. so far, like her, he has succeeded in escaping. may he continue to do so .
at the idea of trying to summarise the plot, i shriek and fall back fainting on my seraglio couch. rushdie has a fractal imagination: plot buds from plot, endlessly. there are at least 1, 001 stories and substories, and nearly as many characters. all you need to know is that they’re mostly highly entertaining, amusing and ingenious. a good many of the characters are in fact genies. the jinn live in their own world, peristan. but the dilapidation of reality in our world, intensifying since the second millennium, has affected the wall between us and peristan, leaving slots and slits through which they can slip.
two arabian knights ( 1927 ) is an american comedy film , directed by lewis milestone and starring william boyd , mary astor and louis wolheim . a silent film , two arabian knights was produced by howard hughes and was distributed by united artists . the screenwriters were james t. o'donohue , wallace smith , and george marion jr . the film won an academy award for best comedy direction .
two arabian knights (1927) is an american comedy film, directed by lewis milestone and starring william boyd, mary astor and louis wolheim. a silent film, two arabian knights was produced by howard hughes and was distributed by united artists. the screenwriters were james t. o'donohue, wallace smith, and george marion jr. the film won an academy award for best comedy direction.
two arabian knights (1927) is an american comedy film, directed by lewis milestone and starring william boyd, mary astor and louis wolheim. a silent film, two arabian knights was produced by howard hughes and was distributed by united artists. the screenwriters were james t. o'donohue, wallace smith, and george marion jr. the film won an academy award for best comedy direction.