Rudolph Valentino
Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan
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Synopsis
An independent British traveller plans a desert journey after refusing a conventional marriage. A powerful sheik becomes fascinated by her and arranges her abduction, placing her declared freedom under his control. Captivity, resistance and threats from another chieftain shape a romance built around a deeply unequal encounter.
Cast
DirectorsGeorge Melford
Inspirations
Edith Maude Hull's bestselling novel provided the basis for the film that helped establish Rudolph Valentino's star image. The adaptation softened parts of the book's sexual violence, but its romantic treatment of coercion and its imagined North Africa remain central to its historical reception.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The reference concerns the original work. Restorations, colorization, translations and other territories may have different conditions. This site uses the player enabled by the channel.
Availability checked on September 10, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Rudolph Valentino — Donald Biddle Keyes · Public domain
- Agnes Ayres — Unknown publicity shot; photographers are credited en masse in the book's endnotes but which photographer is responsible for which is not listed. · Public domain
