The Unholy Garden (1931)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

George Fitzmaurice

Writers:

Ben Hecht (novel)
Ben Hecht (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 October 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A GREAT STAR'S GREATER ACHIEVEMENT! Here is the Colman you knew in "CONDEMNED"... The Colman who startled you in "BULLDOG DRUMMOND"... Now giving you the thrill of a lifetime in a sensational story of sinners, sirens and strange adventure.

Plot:

At a hotel in the middle of the Sahara Desert, an old man and his beautiful daughter try to keep the...

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Adventurer | Based On Novel

Cast

Ronald Colman	...	Barrington Hunt
Fay Wray	...	Camille de Jonghe
Estelle Taylor	...	Eliza Mowbray
Warren Hymer	...	Smiley Corbin
Tully Marshall	...	Baron de Jonghe
Lawrence Grant	...	Dr. Shayne
Ullrich Haupt	...	Col. von Axt
Kit Guard	...	Kid Twist
Henry Armetta	...	Nick the Goose
Lucille La Verne	...	Lucie Villars
Mischa Auer	...	Prince Nicolai Poliakoff
Henry Kolker	...	Col. Lautrac
Charles Hill Mailes	...	Alfred de Jonghe
Wilhelm von Brincken
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arnold Korff	...	Lautrac
Nadja	...	Native dancer
Morgan Wallace	...	Capt. Kruger

Runtime:

UK:75 min | USA:74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

"Decency Has Its Moments"

The suave criminal Barrington Hunt heads for a hideout in the Sahara Desert. In the crumbling old moorish palace he meets a gang of desperados and the divine Camille. A plan intended to relieve Camille of her hidden loot misfires when Hunt begins to fall for her ....

Ronald Coleman plays his stock role of gentleman thief, and Fay Wray is Camille. Wray was a busy star at the time, averaging seven features per year between 1927 and 1934, though of course her name will always be associated with "King Kong", made two years after this crime thriller. "Don't worry - I'm rather good at this," says Coleman as he takes the wheel of Elize's sporty open-top car. He might have been talking about his handsome roue performance. In a long crescendo, the film builds towards the climax of the kiss in the ruined mosque. Coleman is very effective as the cad who is ennobled by love, and his look of regret as Camille leaves is harrowing. If Wray is guilty of an overly declamatory acting style, it can be conceded that this was the vogue of the time. Estelle Taylor as the sexy Elize has a voice that grates, but her performance grows on the viewer as the film progresses.

George Barnes' photography is beautiful, with Coleman backlit at crucial moments, almost like a saint with his halo. The set of the 'palais royal' is superb, deliciously seedy and rambling. There are nice glimpses of desert dunes, and the moorish architecture has an authentic look.

"The place is crawling with lizards," we learn, and this could just as well describe the human inhabitants of the palais royal. Fortunately for Camille, Hunt is cunning enough to outwit the pack of villains who haunt this remote lair. Hunt is able to turn his wasted life into something good and useful in a heroic gesture of self-denial.

Criticisms are limited to minor implausibilities. In such a forsaken spot, would the men all be clean-shaven every day? And would de Jonghe dress formally for Christmas Dinner? Would a disgraced German wear a military uniform out here?

Verdict - Stylish adventure, with Coleman at his most urbane