On the run from punishment for a crime committed by his brother, Bertie Cecil (alias Lewis Victor) joins the French Foreign Legion. In Algeria, he becomes the hated rival of his commander, Chateauroy, who despises Victor's breeding and also competes for the same woman. Victor is beloved of Cigarette, an Algerian camp follower, who saves his life, though he loves another.
Direction
Browning's early mastery of tortured male suffering.
Costume
Cigarette's Algerian camp-follower garb steals every frame.
Acting
Priscilla Dean's ferocious, unrequited passion.
Director
Tod Browning
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Priscilla Dean was Browning's regular leading lady; this was their fifth collaboration.
Ouida's 1867 novel was a massive bestseller that romanticized Foreign Legion suffering for decades.
US
