A sorceress convinced her she's cursed, two men fell anyway, and then the plague hit. Morocco, 1953, absolutely unhinged.
Saadia is a wild, strange Arab girl whose life has been dominated by a local sorceress, a vengeful outcast in the community, who has convinced her she has the "evil eye" and brings disaster to all who love her. French doctor Henrik takes her to his clinic, for rehabilitation purposes, and falls in love with her as does his friend, Si Lahssen, the reigning prince of this small Moroccan state. When a plague falls on the town, Saadia is convinced she is responsible, and rides alone into the mountain country to retrieve the plague serum being held for ransom by bandits. The love triangle dominates most of the rest of the film.
Cinematography
Technicolor Morocco shots that aged like expensive wine.
Costume
Rita Gam's wardrobe doing heavy lifting for character development.
Director
Albert Lewin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Directed by Albert Lewin, who specialized in lush, literary exoticism—this is his only film shot on location in North Africa.
Michel Simon plays Bou Rezza; he famously almost died filming in Morocco due to actual illness, which the studio spun as 'method acting'.
US
