Handsome, hard-riding Vladimir Dubrovsky is the Czarina's favorite Lieutenant in the Imperial Cavalry. When the officer spurns the Empress's romantic overtures, a reward is posted for his capture and execution. He flees St. Petersburg and returns home to discover that that his father has been murdered and his estate stolen by the scoundrel Kyrilla. Concealing his identity with a mask, Vladimir becomes "The Black Eagle" and leads a peasant revolt against the oppressive despot. The uprising gathers momentum, but when he falls for the tyrant's beautiful daughter, he is forced to choose between revenge and true love.

Rudolph Valentino, the original Latin lover, catapulted to fame with his starring role in The Four Horseman Of The Apocalypse (1921). His iconic roles in The Sheik (1921) and Blood And Sand (1922) are the stuff of Hollywood legend. Valentino's animal magnetism is evident in this 1925 Ritz-Carlton production, The Eagle, which is graced with the spectacular set designs of William Cameron Menzies and a brief appearance by a young Gary Cooper. Valentino would appear in only two more motion pictures, Cobra (1925) and The Son Of The Sheik (1926), before his tragic untimely death the same year at the age of 31, would plunge legions of adoring female fans worldwide, into hysterical grief.

Rudolph Valentino stars as Vladimir Dubrovsky, a young Russian Cossack officer who rejects the czarina's (Louise Dresser) amorous attention and is promptly branded a deserter in this silent tale of love and revenge. On the eve of his dismissal he learns of his father's ruin; his father had sent a letter pleading for the czarina's aid against Kyrilla (James Marcus), a gluttonous and treacherous neighbor who has stolen the family's estate. Sentenced to death with a reward on his head for shunning the lusty czarina, Vladimir escapes into the countryside and becomes the Black Eagle, a dashing masked vigilante who seeks to avenge the death of his father. As he nears his goal, his mission is complicated when he falls in love with Mascha Troekouroff (Vilma Banky), Kyrilla's daughter. In order to infiltrate Mascha's house and seek his ultimate revenge on her father, he dons another disguise, forsaking his mask for the identity of Maurice Le Tournier, Mascha's debonaire French tutor. What follows is a witty combination of parlor romance and farce as Vladimir attempts to win Mascha's affections while plotting Kyrilla's destruction. Rudolph Valentino delivers a charismatic and seductive performance in this full-scale romantic adventure that shines with early Hollywood's technical advancements and stylish production values. This exciting silent film is based on DUBROVSKY by Alexander Pushkin.