The Sheik Allusions

The most famous example of this is in the film The Sheik, where Rudolph Valentino is not only revealed to be European, but is also, in fact, one of the most well-bred European gentleman in cinema. He even received a good European education in Paris (The Sheik). And he generally seemed to have the habits and tendencies of an upper-class European gentleman. He also kept a European valet, named Gaston, who is shown serving Ahmed throughout the film on various food and drink trays, as well as delivering his messages in a truly genteel fashion (The Sheik). Ahmed was even friends with, in the narrative of the story, a famous French author named Raoul de Saint Hubert (The Sheik). In essence, despite being Easternized and separated from his parents at birth, Ahmed still finds a way to uphold the educational, socio-economic, and cultural values of an upper-class European gentleman. Additionally, many allusions are made to the Lawrence of Arabia myth within the film itself. In the opening of The Sheik, Ahmed is shown serving as an adjudicator for the sales of wives,

One of the most blatant is the scene where the son is captured. This is punctuated by a long torture scene, before he eventually is allowed to escape. This coincides with part of Lawrence of Arabia’s story, as he was also captured and tortured, but eventually managed to escape (Hodson, Lawrence of Arabia 68). There is also a scene in the movie where Ahmed is searching for his son, but the audience is given a close glimpse at his garb, and he is decorated with combat medals (The Son of the Sheik). As Colonel T. E. Lawrence was a decorated, having a scene with the Sheik similarly being decorated with combat medals draws the two characters closer and closer