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The Sheik
A desert abduction romance that turned a nation's box office inside out in a single season.
What
A 1921 lithographed one-sheet for the Jesse L. Lasky production, directed by George Melford for Paramount.
Why
The Sheik was the commercial event of 1921 and the origin point of the Hollywood 'exotic romance' — a genre built on Orientalist fantasy that the industry would work for a decade. It also demonstrated, for the first time at that scale, that women's ticket-buying could make a picture.
Notice
The desert horizon compressed to a decorative band, so that the drama plays entirely in the foreground figures.
“A fantasy of elsewhere, sold to a country that had never been there.”
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Size
$29.00
Provenance
- Film
- The Sheik (1921), dir. George Melford
- Country / studio
- United States · Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Pictures
- Format
- One-sheet (27 × 41 in.)
- Poster published
- U.S. one-sheet, 1921
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (poster published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the poster’s own publication year, never the film’s. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18. Star-portrait piece: sold as the artifact, the film named, the star incidental.
From Silent Hollywood
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The Double Bill
Two one-sheets, hung as a pair — a double feature for your wall, at a pairing price of $270.00 for the two. Build one from any two one-sheets in the gallery.
Pair it in the gallery →A house of the Provenance family