The Fighting Eagle

The Fighting Eagle isn't my cup of tea. I find period dramas to be tedious for the most part, and this one lived up to that expectation. Etienne Gerard (Rod la Rocque) is a braggart who works to take down Tallyrand, the foreign minister. His slapdash antics constantly land him in trouble, but he still somehow manages to make good.

This was my first experience seeing la Rocque, and I was surprised at how goofy-looking he was, because I always got the impression that he was a Casanova type. His height, small frame, and delicate features seemed to contrast the manly, arrogant character he plays. Phyllis Haver is more impressive. I've seen her in Battle of the Sexes and Chicago and she is very different in each film.

The story runs smoothly, but espionage and politics just aren't my thing.

Although DeMille was groomed in the theatre, his films came across like visual sermons. Even though there was no dialogue in this film, it was heavily layered with speech rather than visuals. It was a bit like going to church watching this film. DeMille could easily be mistaken for a vicar rather than a director.

"The Fighting Eagle" is a thoroughly enjoyable tongue-in-cheek swashbuckler set in Napoleonic France. Similar to "The Crimson Pirate" and to a lesser extent "The Three Musketeers" (1948), the film blends elements of comedy and intrigue with a slight dose of suspense toward the end of the picture.

Rod La Rocque plays Etienne Gerard, a Harold Lloyd-type character who stumbles in and out of trouble while in the service of the Emperor's chief spy, the Countess de Launay, played by Phyllis Haver. He towers above everyone else and is a dashing, bumbling figure. If you have not seen La Rocque before, he is a commanding presence and dominates when he is on screen.

"The Fighting Eagle" is an exciting action picture with lots of story squashed into 60 minutes. It was directed by Donald Crisp and produced by Cecil B. DeMille and is well worth your time. The title above refers to the character of Talleyrand, whose servant is played by none other than fan dancer Sally Rand. She is in costume here, well before she gained notoriety by performing without a costume.

I have to say, I don't agree at all with the previous reviewer, who calls The Fighting Eagle a 'sermonic' film, and implies that it is top-heavy with title cards and preachy! In my opinion, it's nothing of the sort. It's a delightful swashbuckling romp, set in the first decade of the nineteenth century, in which the aspiring and sometimes slightly incompetent soldier, Etienne Gerard (Rod La Rocque), is keen to make his mark by serving Napoleon. La Rocque is his usual charming and handsome self, and some of his comic misadventures are laugh out loud funny: watch out for the scene in which, trapped in a barrel, he bounces down a hill, and lands at the feet of the Emperor, whereupon, pulled to his feet, he is too dazed to stand up straight and can barely manage to salute.

It's a shame La Rocque is so forgotten today: other films of his which are well worth hunting out include The Coming of Amos and The Cruise of the Jasper B.