I found this silent film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I assumed it was Russian because of the image of the leading character, it's from America, I didn't know what to expect, so I just went for it and watched. Basically Vladimir Dubrovsky (Rudolph Valentino) is a dashing young lieutenant (a Cossack as it was then known) in the Imperial Guard of the Russian army. He comes to the notice of the Czarina Catherine II (Louise Dresser) when he rescues beautiful young lady Mascha Troekouroff (Vilma Bánky), and her Aunt Aurelia (Carrie Clark Ward), trapped in a runaway stagecoach. Vladimir is delighted when the Czarina offers to make him a general, but is appalled when she tries to seduce him, he flees from the palace, in anger the Czarina orders a warrant for his arrest, he has a price on his head, he is wanted dead or alive. Soon after, Vladimir receives a letter that the evil nobleman Kyrilla Troekouroff (James A. Marcus) has evicted him from his land ownership and is terrorising the countryside with his corruption, and it gets worse for Vladimir when he finds out his Father (Spottiswoode Aitken) has died. Vladimir vows revenge against Kyrilla for the death of his father and to help the the victimised peasants, so with a black mask he adopts the identity of Robin Hood style outlaw "The Black Eagle", leading a group of unsatisfied men to help him fight and seek vengeance. Vladimir discovers that Kyrilla is Mascha's father, he finds a way to get closer to him, by taking the place of a tutor sent from France, but never seen by anyone in the household. In adopting this role his love for Mascha grows stronger, and he becomes more and more reluctant to continue seeking revenge against Mascha's father, so they eventually flee the Troekouroff estate together. Vladimir is captured by the Czarina's men, but the Czarina no longer seeks to execute him, she has had a change of heart, in the end she allows him and Mascha to leave Russia together for Paris, France, with a new French name, to start a new life. Also starring George Nichols as Judge, Michael Pleschkoff as Captain Kuschka of the Cossack Guard and apparently young Gary Cooper as a Masked Cossack. Valentino is well cast as the swashbuckling hero, he is good in and out of the black mask, this is Valentino's penultimate role before he died, a female cult was formed following his death. It is obvious the story was inspired by Zorro, and it is a pretty simple tale of a man wanting to help the poor people and get even with the bad guy, but it is good fun to watch, a worthwhile silent adventure. Good!