I have to say, I don't agree at all with the previous reviewer, who calls The Fighting Eagle a 'sermonic' film, and implies that it is top-heavy with title cards and preachy! In my opinion, it's nothing of the sort. It's a delightful swashbuckling romp, set in the first decade of the nineteenth century, in which the aspiring and sometimes slightly incompetent soldier, Etienne Gerard (Rod La Rocque), is keen to make his mark by serving Napoleon. La Rocque is his usual charming and handsome self, and some of his comic misadventures are laugh out loud funny: watch out for the scene in which, trapped in a barrel, he bounces down a hill, and lands at the feet of the Emperor, whereupon, pulled to his feet, he is too dazed to stand up straight and can barely manage to salute.
It's a shame La Rocque is so forgotten today: other films of his which are well worth hunting out include The Coming of Amos and The Cruise of the Jasper B.
It's a shame La Rocque is so forgotten today: other films of his which are well worth hunting out include The Coming of Amos and The Cruise of the Jasper B.