Silent screen siren Betty Blythe shot to stardom with "Queen of Sheba" (1921), where she joined "vamp" stars Theda Bara, Louise Glaum, and Pola Negri in popularity. That film, like this one, featured Ms. Blyth showing off her curvy figure in skimpy and see-through clothing. Although "Sheba" is presently a lost film, stills show Blythe's scanty costumes are as good as anything "She" wore here. This film is relatively well-produced, with fair effects, a hair-raising climax, and an important co-star in Carlyle Blackwell; while now forgotten, he was a very big name in early films.
The frequently filmed H. Rider Haggard story begins with Mr. Blackwell (as Leo Vincy) discovering a relic that informs him about Blythe (as Ayesha, or "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed"), who loved his father (also essayed by Mr. Blackwell, in old age make-up) and (two thousand years of, presumably) others in the ancestral line. Blackwell accompanies pal Heinrich George (as Horace "The Baboon" Holly) and handyman Tom Reynolds (as Job) to Arabia. They meet up with native girl Mary Odette, flesh-eating cannibals (okay, maybe there aren't any other kind), and Blythe.
****** She (1925) G.B. Samuelson ~ Betty Blythe, Carlyle Blackwell, Heinrich George, Mary Odette
