Two Arabian Knights (1927)

Winner of 1 Academy Award:

Best Directing (Comedy Picture)

Lewis Milestone

It won 1 Oscar out of a total of 1 nomination in 1927-28.


Two Arabian Knights follows two soldiers who are captured and taken as prisoners-of-war during World War I.  After making a daring escape, they are accidentally diverted to Arabia and, in the process, manage to save the life of an Arabian princess.  Hungry and penniless, the two seek out monetary compensation from Arabian royalty, as well as the heart of the princess, who has fallen for one of the soldiers.

This film has the special distinction of being the only film to ever win an Oscar for Best Directing of a Comedy Picture, a category that would be dismantled after the Academy's first year.

For some time, the film had been considered as one of the "lost" Oscar films, but ended up being recovered when a single print was found in the private collection of Howard Hughes after he had passed away.  The print was restored by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Turner Classic Movies, and is occasionally shown on their station.

It must be noted that this film did suffer a significant amount of degradation over time, and some sections of the movie are noticeably damaged.  This is forgivable, however, given that this movie almost ceased to exist.  But, nevertheless, it is still unfortunate that some scenes suffer in quality.


Editorial:

This is a very special film that was miraculously saved.  It is just an all-around great movie that I would recommend to anyone.  It is funny, it is entertaining, it has a great narrative arc, and it is incredibly well-produced.  Make sure you catch this one if you have the means to do so.

Score  |  08/10  |  This motion picture is essential viewing.