Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

Action and Adventure Films
Bruce Willis in the prototypical contemporary action film Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988). Ó 20TH CENTURY FOX FILM
CORP./COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.
the appeal of sensational cinema in the period, pointing
out that what we now typically term ‘‘action’’ was framed
within the silent era as a form of popular melodrama
featuring scenes of peril, pursuit, villainy, and rescue,
forms derived in part from spectacular theatrical traditions.
These basic elements of chase and pursuit were also
given comic inflection in Mack Sennett’s highly successful
slapstick Keystone productions, most notably through
the antics of the ‘‘Keystone Kops.’’
As the silent cinema reached maturity in the United
States, the most remarkable action star of the period
was undoubtedly Douglas Fairbanks (1883–1939), who
defined both the historical adventure and the action
spectacle for the silent era. From his unexpected success
with The Mark of Zorro (1920), a departure from the
star’s established association with comedy, Fairbanks
appeared in a series of costly spectacles that showcased
his athleticism and physical exuberance, notably Robin
Hood (1922) and The Thief of Bagdad (1924). The latter,
directed by Raoul Walsh, is an epic fairytale film featuring
extravagant sets and breathtaking choreography.
The film follows Fairbanks’s Ahmed from life as a thief
on the streets of Bagdad through various adventures that
end in his redemption through love and heroism.
Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926), Fairbanks’s contemporary,
was also associated with exoticized adventure in
such films as The Sheik (1921) and his last film, Son of
the Sheik (1926), his star persona foregrounding eroticism
rather than the athleticism that was Fairbanks’s
trademark. However different, dance draws the two
together, with The Thief of Bagdad clearly being influenced
by contemporary dance styles and Valentino’s
being heavily associated with the ethnic eroticism of the
tango. Both stars are analyzed in This Mad Masquerade
by Gaylyn Studlar, who explores their images within the
period’s evolving and fluid discourses of American manhood.
Their different images underline the centrality of
the star body to action and adventure films: as a form
that foregrounds the body in motion and in combat,
action and adventure cinema advances a physical (frequently
sexualized), imagery of heroism that veers
between the poles of aggression and grace.
28 SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM