A silent desert epic so lost, even cinephiles whisper its name in reverence.
Capturing a beautiful horse and slave girl, Thurya young Arab Jaafor’s happiness is short lived when the girl is sold to a cruel sheik. Sneaking into the encampment he attempts escape with her on horseback but is captured. The attack of an enemy tribe saves him, the sheik is slain, and the young Jaafor’s tribe celebrates his nuptials with Thurya.
Direction
Hillyer crams a lifetime of melodrama into 50 breathless minutes.
Production
Silent-era Hollywood's obsession with Arabian fantasy, beautifully rendered.
Director
Lambert Hillyer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Fleetwing is considered a lost film — no known prints exist in any archive, making every synopsis a ghost story.
Dorothy Janis, who played Thurya, retired from acting in 1930 and lived to 95, outlasting every frame of her most 'exotic' role.
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