"Play the game with me - diamonds and youth - the world is ours!"
The glances John Gilbert and Mary Nolan exchange early on are as sultry as the "Calahari" desert they later wander through, and essentially the film's main attraction. An alternate title for the film apparently was Thirst - mmhmm that sounds about right. Unfortunately, it fizzles as the story out in the desert varies between being too simple and not making a lot of sense. Let's just say that artistically it's a far cry from the final act of Eric von Stroheim's Greed (1924), which was out in Death Valley. Then again, it's just one hour as opposed to four, includes Ernest Torrence who's in good form, and has Gilbert and Nolan all sweaty for each other. Both of them had some pretty awful times ahead of them after this film, but in these moments, they're immortal.
The glances John Gilbert and Mary Nolan exchange early on are as sultry as the "Calahari" desert they later wander through, and essentially the film's main attraction. An alternate title for the film apparently was Thirst - mmhmm that sounds about right. Unfortunately, it fizzles as the story out in the desert varies between being too simple and not making a lot of sense. Let's just say that artistically it's a far cry from the final act of Eric von Stroheim's Greed (1924), which was out in Death Valley. Then again, it's just one hour as opposed to four, includes Ernest Torrence who's in good form, and has Gilbert and Nolan all sweaty for each other. Both of them had some pretty awful times ahead of them after this film, but in these moments, they're immortal.