The Young Rajah

I caught this picture on TCM's Silent Sundays an May, 2006. The last forty minutes of a nitrate print were discovered and using stills and trailers, Paramount did a very commendable job giving the viewer the as much of the full experience as they could. Valentino gives an excellent performance and looks enough like an Indian in his turban to pass for their prince. The climax occur rather quickly but how the picture concludes is definitely on the clever side. But what is most interesting about this picture in the incorporation of prejudice and equality into the romance between Valentino's and Hawley's characters. Being only 18, prejudice and equality are different to me than they are to my parents, but I couldn't help but be amazed at how the film tackled the issue and rapped it up in an engrossing, almost epic motion picture experience.