I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

"Two Arabian Knights" has the distinction of winning one of the first two Oscars given for Best Direction. In the Academy's first year, 1927-28, the Best Director award was split between dramatic and comedy categories, and "Two Arabian Knights" won the latter. Indeed, it's only the first of two films in Oscar history -- the second being "The Divine Lady" the following year -- to win a Best Director Oscar without being nominated for Best Picture, but since that first year was the only one in which two directing awards were given, it isn't an apples to apples comparison with other years. Lewis Milestone, who certainly deserved to win an Oscar for something and would become the first person to win two directing Oscars when the Academy awarded him the prize two years later for "All Quiet on the Western Front," beat Ted Wilde ("Speedy") to win the one for this film, and I have to say the Academy got it wrong. "Two Arabian Knights" is enjoyable, at times very funny, and features a very fetching Mary Astor (this was the first silent performance I'd ever seen her in), but it doesn't hold a candle to Harold Lloyd's hysterical comedy.If all had gone originally according to plan, we would be saying that both "Two Arabian Knights" and "Speedy" were bested in this category by Charles Chaplin's "The Circus." But the Academy decided to yank Chaplin's film from competitive consideration and instead give it a special award.Grade: B+

Not very many movies come to my mind that covered as much geography as this one.Naturally, being a Hollywood product, there is not a whole lot of realism here, but there is a whole lot of entertainment, and a whole lot of talent.Louis Wollheim apparently never became a household name, but his performance in this film would indicate he should have.In one priceless scene, when, without inter-titles, the Bill Boyd character whispers the explanation of a word (often found in the Bible), Wollheim's expression almost makes the whole movie worthwhile.Lewis Milestone's direction is another plus. This was still early in his career, but his use of inventive angles and a moving camera showed brilliance.Ian Keith made a superb suave villain in one of his best roles.Being a silent film, "Two Arabian Knights" probably won't be shown even on Turner Classic Movies very often, but I urge film fans to grab any opportunity to watch it.

Enjoyed viewing this 1927 Silent Film from the past and seeing great Classic actors like Mary Astor, William Boyd and Boris Karloff. The film depicts two soldiers fighting in the trenches of WWI and wearing gas masks against the Mustard Gas that the Germans were using to kill the American Forces in Europe. William Boyd,(Pvt W. Dangerfield Phelps),"Hopalong Cassidy",'49 TV Series, was a green horn to fighting in the muddy trenches and meets up with a veteran soldier, Louis Walheim,(Sgt.Peter McGaffney),"The Sin Ship",'31, who gave Pvt. Dangerfield a very hard time during half of the picture. The two soldiers meet up with Mary Astor,(Anis bin Adham/Miraz),"Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte','64, who wears a veil over her face and charms the two soldiers into paying for her fare on their voyage. If you look real close, you will see Boris Karloff,(Purser)"Targets",'68, who was the purser on the ship and was just starting his career with a minor role in this Army life comedy, at the age of 40 years. Howard Huges produced this picture for UA and was the first film to win an Academy Award for its direction. If you want to see a great Silent Film from 1927, you will definitely enjoy this CLASSIC!

I understand that <i>Two Arabian Knights</i> also survives in the CNC (the National Center of Cinematography), an archive at the Bois d'Arcy in France.However, I have never pursued it there, so cannot guarantee the accuracy of that. I'd be interested to know if anyone does get access to this film.IMDb wants me to type a minimum of 10 lines, and although I understand what they're getting at, it's almost impossible, and not very useful, in this particular case, so I am simply typing this paragraph to get around that. Presumably a reviewer will delete it for me.