Picture quality is acceptable, though it is a bit scratched and blotted, as it was transferred from an old print (I don't know if better prints of this movie survived). The new theater organ music score by Jack Ward is adequate and sound quality is good.

A word of warning, however: this edition was transferred from a print used for a re-release in the late 30's, when the infamous Production Code was already being enforced. Accordingly, the movie seems to have been mercilessly butchered by Hays Office censors. Notably the famous scene when Valentino rapes Vilma Banky was omitted. I've never had the chance to see that scene myself but, according to contemporary descriptions, the rape was subtly suggested by a series of expressive closeups. In this edition, the scene is abruptly cut right after V. Banky walks backwards into Valentino's bedroom, followed by Valentino himself. On account of this mutilation I gave this DVD only 4 instead of 5 stars. Maybe it deserved even less, for censorship is always a totally unacceptable thing.

Son of the Sheik was Valentino's last film before his untimely death at 31. This film is incredible. Rudy plays both the son and the formidable sheik in this, his last film. He falls in love with a dancing girl, Yasmin, played by Vilma Banky. They fall in love until he is captured and tortured. Believing Yasmin to be responsible, he escapes and extracts his own form of revenge. The tent scene where he has Yasmin at his mercy was incredibly sensuous. You KNEW what Ahmed was planning to do to the beautiful Yasmin. She knew it, too, but was powerless to stop him. No matter how much pleading and begging she did, he drove her mercilessly to his bed. One word - WOW! True love prevails, though, and all is saved.

Some might find a silent movie to be a bit corny but not I. There is something enchanting - magical about watching Rudy. He is without a doubt, the most graceful man captured on film. No ONE walks or dances the way Rudy does. He is poetry in motion. I could watch him for hours . . .

He was blessed with a sinful handsomeness and those eyes . . . They were almost hypnotic in their intensity. It is soooooo easy to see why the women in the 1920's were filled with hysteria for this Latin Lover. After all of these years has passed, his appeal shines forth in this, his final film. There will never be another Rudolph Valentino. He simply graced the screen with his presence and changed everyday life into something magical. While watching him weave his magic, we forgot our troubles if only for a little.

*There is only one regret the world must have had when Rudy died. His voice was never recorded. His singing was but nothing of him "speaking". There has been much speculation over his voice and the transition from silent films to talkie films. Would he have made such a successful transition where others had failed? I believe he would have. But we will never know for sure.*