Some Arabian (and Not Really Arabian) Horses
in Silent Films, 1921-1926
Part Four
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| Sketch of an Arabian horse by political cartoonist Homer Davenport, 1906 |
In this series we've been exploring the appearance of Arabian horses in silent movies of the early 1920s, and of horses that were not Arabians but simply played Arabians.
Now we come to a some silent films that were shot in North Africa and/or the Middle East in the early 1920s, featuring horses local to the areas that may actually have been what we call Arabians, Barbs, or other breeds native to that part of the world. These films were shown in the United States, and audiences loved them.
The Sheik's Wife (1922)
Newspaper accounts promoting the 1922 French film "The Sheik's Wife" boasted that it was "actually filmed in Arabia!"
It was actually filmed in Algeria, in North Africa, which was under French control at the time. A rather grainy photo of Algerian horses ("real and almost priceless Arab steeds!") and Algerian riders was part of some of the print advertising.
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A critic for the Bridgeport, Connecticut Times and Evening Farmer newspaper saw "The Sheik's Wife" and did a good job summarizing just what it meant for the American public to see "real Arabian horses:"
"The American public is only too well accustomed to Arabian films made in Southern California, in which western cow ponies serve as Arabian horses... Now comes an Arabian film...actually made in Arabia by a French company... One of the big points of 'The Sheik's Wife' is that the western cow-pony type of Arab steed is conspicuous by its absence. Every member of the large cast is mounted on real Arabian horses of long pedigree. These horses by their tapering legs and dainty hoofs, their deep chests and upstanding necks can readily be differentiated from all other breeds of horses..." (emphasis mine)
I recently found an old movie magazine with a better copy of the photo of some of the horses in "The Sheik's Wife." So even though we'll probably never know for sure, just looking at the horses, it seems like they may have been Barbs and/or Arabians living in the area where filming occurred.
The film "The Sheik's Wife" has been lost, so we can't get a better look at the horses.
A Son of the Sahara (1924)
First National Pictures sent its US-based film crew and stars to Algeria to film "A Son of the Sahara." News reports said the company would hire a thousand camels and 2500 Arabian horses for the production.
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| Mansfield, Ohio Evening Star, 28 April 1924 |
"A Son of the Sahara," too, has been lost, so we can't see the 2,500 Arabian horses. But we can speculate that at least some of them were Arabians, Barbs, or of similar breeding in Algeria. based on this wonderful still photo that has survived. The horse is unnamed.
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| A better copy of this photo is available on the Internet Movie Database website. I'll put a link in the notes at the end of this post. |
The Shepherd King (1923)
The biblical silent epic "The Shepherd King" told the story -- very loosely -- of David and King Saul, and David's marriage to Saul's daughter Michal.
Capitalizing on the public's interest in Egyptology, a few scenes were filmed in Egypt, but most were filmed in areas including Jerusalem, Jericho, and modern-day Jordan. Horses used in the film were native to that part of the Middle East.
"The Shepherd King" featured an extrabiblical chariot race, and another scene utilized the services of either 1500 or 15,000 (depending on which newspaper article you read) horsemen reportedly provided by Abdullah I, who at the time was the Emir of Transjordan.
It would be wonderful to see so many horses in a film, but unfortunately "The Shepherd King" is also considered lost. I haven't yet found any still photos from the film clearly showing horses.
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Switching back to our theme of horses that were not really Arabians in silent films, here's a silent film -- this time, a very famous one! -- with a couple of Not Arabians in it. Although the horses in the swashbuckler classic "The Thief of Bagdad" (1924) don't appear to be Arabians, I have to mention the film for two reasons:
1) The amazing art on the film poster by the movie's art director, Anton Grot:
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| Movie poster for "The Thief of Bagdad," by art director Anton Grot. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9893121 |
2) The two Not Arabians that Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. rode in the film. Here are some screen grabs I made from a copy of the film on YouTube.
Fairbanks' character gets a little help from his friend the Winged Horse, who canters across the heavens with the actor on board, in a piece of pre-computer era special effects that left audiences amazed.
Later in the film, Fairbanks' character conjures an army of soldiers and a mount to help him defeat the enemy. I wasn't able to find information on this horse.
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One Stolen Night (1923)
The Vitagraph silent feature "One Stolen Night," starring Alice Calhoun and Herbert Hayes, advertised "real Arabians" and "real Arabian steeds."
Or not. The character of "Sheik Ahmud" was played by actor Russ Powell, born in Indianapolis. He's better-known for playing a bartender in the 1935 version of "Call of the Wild."
And, looking at a shortened version of the film on YouTube, we see that almost every one of The Bad Guys in "One Stolen Night" rode Pintos that look like they just stepped out of a Western. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the legendary silent film cowboy Broncho Billy Anderson was another Vitagraph star.)
The hero, of course, rode a white horse.
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| Public domain, via Wikipedia. |
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Finally, here are couple of films from Italy that may or may not have had Arabians, or even part-Arabians:
Quo Vadis (1924)
The Italian film "Quo Vadis" was released in the United States by First National Pictures. It was billed as having "300 Arabian horses" and 150 lions. It's difficult to tell if the horses look like Arabians. One of the female actresses drives a chariot in a race in this film, too, but she doesn't stand on the horses' backs as did the title character in the silent "Queen of Sheba" (see Part Two of this series).
Messalina (The Fall of an Empress) (1923-1924)
Another Italian film, "Messalina," featured "wonderful Arabian horses drugged by a conspirator before the great races in the Circus Maximus." The French Wikipedia site has a photograph of the chariot race, but again, there's no way to tell if the horses are, or even resemble, Arabians.
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| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Messalina1923_corsa_bighe.jpg |
There were other silent films with Roman, (sort of) Biblical, and Middle Eastern themes, but it's time to move ahead. In Part Five of this series, we'll look at an epic silent film with "Arabian horses" that at least had Arabian ancestors. The plot thickens!
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Thanks
Many thanks to Carol Woodbridge Mulder, Tobi Lopez Taylor, Dolores "Dee" Adkins, and Shay Canfield for their invaluable assistance in preparing this series.
Barb horses
Bonnie L. Hendricks' book International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds
(Moroccan Barb, North African Barb, page 273) provides a great deal of information on the background of Barb horses from Northern Africa.
"The Barb is found in slightly varying models across North Africa, some strains having been crossed quite extensively with the Arab breed in modern times... This is an athletic breed.... the head is rather long with pronounced jaws and a straight or convex profile, lively eyes, flared, open nostrils, and curved, mobile ears. The head is tapered, wide from eye to jaw, small at the muzzle. The neck is of medium length and muscular with a natural arch; the withers are prominent and long; the back is short and straight; the croup sloped with a low-set tail. The quarters are powerful with smooth muscling; the shoulder is very long, sloping, and well muscled; the chest is long and very deep...The legs are slender and solidly built with broad joints and well-defined tendons; the hooves are small and well shaped with tough horn."
The Thief of Bagdad
One Stolen Night
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