John Gilbert is the manager of an African diamond mine in the desert. He gets a telegram that Lord Stonehill and his daughter will be stopping by -- he's apparently an owner -- with his daughter on their way to a hunting trip. It turns out to be Ernest Torrence and Mary Nolan, but they're not the Stonehills. They're thieves who steal half a million dollars in uncut diamonds and take Gilbert along to stop organizing pursuit. Into the desert they go. Can Gilbert turn the tables?
John Gilbert's last silent movie is a good programmer, with Miss Nolan at her most beautiful, Torrence villainous and amusing in turn, and Gilbert at his romantic best. With James Wong Howe running the camera, there are some lovely shots of the Mojave Desert, and fine portrait work about the 30-minute mark. Gilbert had recently been signed to an extravagant contract; Mayer had opposed it, but the New York office had insisted on meeting his outrageous terms. When his first talkie came out, they realized what a mistake they had made. Gilbert's voice was quite good, but it did not match the lushly romantic image that his silent movies offered, and it tanked. It took a couple of years to find vehicles that matched his dark good looks and voice, but by then the public had lost interest.
In the meantime, though, he was riding high, and this movie, despite its short length of 62 minutes, seemed to justify the decision.
John Gilbert's last silent movie is a good programmer, with Miss Nolan at her most beautiful, Torrence villainous and amusing in turn, and Gilbert at his romantic best. With James Wong Howe running the camera, there are some lovely shots of the Mojave Desert, and fine portrait work about the 30-minute mark. Gilbert had recently been signed to an extravagant contract; Mayer had opposed it, but the New York office had insisted on meeting his outrageous terms. When his first talkie came out, they realized what a mistake they had made. Gilbert's voice was quite good, but it did not match the lushly romantic image that his silent movies offered, and it tanked. It took a couple of years to find vehicles that matched his dark good looks and voice, but by then the public had lost interest.
In the meantime, though, he was riding high, and this movie, despite its short length of 62 minutes, seemed to justify the decision.