User Comments:
"Decency Has Its Moments", 26 March 1999
Author:
Michael Coy (michael.coy@virgin.net) from London, England
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
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