Right after the opening scene that establishes Navarro as a charming womanizer, we see him steal a small dog and then bite its ear to shut it up. That's a bad omen. A very bad omen.
Myrna Loy has come to Cairo with some stiff fiance and his abrasive mom along for the ride. Navarro insinuates himself with their entourage. They all go wandering out to find the shortcut to Aqaba, or something. Navarro tries a nighttime r#pe. Gets rebuffed. Then kidnaps Loy and takes him to Edward Arnold playing some kind of Arab bigshot who's into S&M (whips, specifically).
While in captivity she takes a s3xytime bath that viewers are expected to believe was genuinely in the nude (actually a flesh-colored bodysuit).
Later, Navarro drags Loy through the dessert - he on horseback, her on foot - like Eli Wallach does to Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. And then lets his horse drink out of the oasis before he lets Loy drink. And THEN he r#pes her. And then, and THEN, he takes her back to his cavalcade of goat herders for a forced marriage. Good gawd, what an abomination.
As if THAT wasn't offensive enough, Loy is sitting at her makeup mirror just before her marriage to The Stiff when one of the old bags mentions something about Loy sitting there in her ''virgin solitude." At which point we hear Navarro crooning his little lovesong and Loy gets all moonie for him. Are we supposed to understand that Loy realizes she is ''spoiled" for her white suitor and thus, in a desperate bid to salvage everyone's dignity and maybe her own happiness she runs away with her Arab r@pist?
My jaw was actually on the floor by the end of it.
Production values are quite excellent. Myrna Loy was stunningly beautiful. And Navarro is actually believable as a guy who sleeps with woman. So it gets a 3 based on those qualities alone.
Myrna Loy has come to Cairo with some stiff fiance and his abrasive mom along for the ride. Navarro insinuates himself with their entourage. They all go wandering out to find the shortcut to Aqaba, or something. Navarro tries a nighttime r#pe. Gets rebuffed. Then kidnaps Loy and takes him to Edward Arnold playing some kind of Arab bigshot who's into S&M (whips, specifically).
While in captivity she takes a s3xytime bath that viewers are expected to believe was genuinely in the nude (actually a flesh-colored bodysuit).
Later, Navarro drags Loy through the dessert - he on horseback, her on foot - like Eli Wallach does to Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. And then lets his horse drink out of the oasis before he lets Loy drink. And THEN he r#pes her. And then, and THEN, he takes her back to his cavalcade of goat herders for a forced marriage. Good gawd, what an abomination.
As if THAT wasn't offensive enough, Loy is sitting at her makeup mirror just before her marriage to The Stiff when one of the old bags mentions something about Loy sitting there in her ''virgin solitude." At which point we hear Navarro crooning his little lovesong and Loy gets all moonie for him. Are we supposed to understand that Loy realizes she is ''spoiled" for her white suitor and thus, in a desperate bid to salvage everyone's dignity and maybe her own happiness she runs away with her Arab r@pist?
My jaw was actually on the floor by the end of it.
Production values are quite excellent. Myrna Loy was stunningly beautiful. And Navarro is actually believable as a guy who sleeps with woman. So it gets a 3 based on those qualities alone.