An Arab prince born and raised in the desert and a beautiful Frenchwoman from Paris fall in love and marry, but the tremendous differences in their backgrounds and the cultural differences between their two different societies put strains on their marriage that may well prove irreparable.
Cinematography
Desert exteriors that actually look like somewhere, not a Burbank backlot.
Costume
Fabienne's Parisian wardrobe vs. harem-adjacent fantasies—visual culture clash.
Director
Howard Hawks
Charles Farrell
Prince Fazil
Greta Nissen
Fabienne
John Boles
John Clavering
Mae Busch
Helen Dubreuze
Tyler Brooke
Jacques Dubreuze
John T. Murray
Gondolier
Vadim Uraneff
Ahmed
Josephine Borio
Aicha
Erville Alderson
Iman Idris
Dale Fuller
Zouroya - Keeper of the Harem
Hank Mann
Ali - the Eunuch
Gino Corrado
Sultan's Messenger
Sally Eilers
Harem Girl
Constantine Romanoff
Executioner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hawks later called this his only 'real mistake,' though film historians note his signature themes—male friendship, ritual, professionalism—are already faintly visible.
Released the same year as The Son of the Sheik, this rode Valentino's Arabian Nights wave while accidentally documenting 1920s America's anxious fascination with 'exotic' masculinity.
US
