Two Arabian Knights (1927)

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.

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Writers:

Wallace Smith (screen version), Cyril Gardner (screen version),

Stars:

William Boyd, Mary Astor, Louis Wolheim

Won 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
William Boyd	...	W. Daingerfield Phelps III
Mary Astor	...	Mirza
Louis Wolheim	...	Sergeant Peter O'Gaffney
Ian Keith	...	Shevket
Michael Vavitch	...	The Emir
Michael Visaroff	...	The Skipper (as M. Visaroff)
Boris Karloff	...	The Purser
DeWitt Jennings	...	American Consul (as De Witt Jennings)
Nicholas Dunaew	...	Mirza's Man Servant (as Nicholas Dunaev)
Jean Vachon	...	Mirza's Maid Servant
David Cavendish	...	The Emir's Advisor (as Denis D'Auburn)

Storyline

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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

ship | escape | emir | soldier | arab | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Adventure

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 September 1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dois Cavaleiros Árabes

Filming Locations:

San Bernardino Mountains, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Caddo Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 92 min (2004 alternate)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lewis Milestone won an Oscar, then called the First Award, for Direction (Comedy Picture), the first and only year that category appeared in the Academy Awards. Milestone beat the only other nominee in the category, Ted Wilde for Harold Lloyd's Speedy. Charles Chaplin had originally been announced as a Best Comedy Director nominee for The Circus, but subsequently was removed from the category (his nomination for Best Actor also was rescinded) and given a special Honorary Award. Milestone won a second Oscar for directing All Quiet on the Western Front, which featured Louis Wolheim in a World War 1 setting, and was nominated one more time, for The Front Page.

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Connections

Edited into Spisok korabley (2008)

User Reviews

TCM Showing Restored "Two Arabian Knights" on December 15, 2004

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.'