Le chant du Nil

Let's start with the positives – you have the very beautiful Myrna Loy appearing in a bathtub for goodness sake, a suave Ramon Novarro wooing her with beautiful songs, and an exotic pre-code tale set in Egypt. Where modern viewers will struggle is with the scenes in the desert, where Novarro mistreats and later rapes Loy. What started out as a forbidden romance, albeit with borderline creepiness in Novarro's persistence, becomes cringe-inducing, and I have to say, I also hated the ending. Men forcing themselves on women until they gave in was de rigueur for the time, and the fantasy about Arabs post-Valentino was still strong in America, but the film would have been stronger had it either had Novarro's character been truly honorable ('Barbarian' indeed), or Loy's ultimately capable of resisting him if he wasn't. As it is, one feels conflicted and kind of icky with the message it conveys about both Arabs and women. And yet, Loy and Novarro are both pretty compelling, and make it worth watching. Did I mention Loy appears in a bathtub?

Kidnapped in the Egyptian desert, a beautiful American finds herself alternately loving & loathing THE BARBARIAN who abducted her.

Taken solely as romantic adventure, this lavish little MGM film has much to offer, including good acting & fine production values. Considered only from the standpoint of the plot, the story is ludicrous, what with a heroine suffering histrionics among the sand dunes & a hero who is a completely unprincipled cad.

Ramon Novarro does well in the title role, a reprise of his silent film THE ARAB (1924). MGM's Mexican star adds yet another ethnic stripe to his thespian escutcheon, this time portraying an Egyptian prince. Looking a little like a Valentino clone, he gets to sing & act in a variety of languages. Myrna Loy, who only gets billing below the title, is excellent as the Englishwoman caught-up in the allures & entrapments of the Nile Desert. After paying her dues in roles like this, she would very soon become a major Hollywood movie star.

In the very able supporting cast Reginald Denny plays Loy's stuffy fiancé; Edward Arnold is an unctuous pasha; Hedda Hopper appears briefly as an American tourist very pleased with Novarro's attentions. Wonderful old Sir C. Aubrey Smith is well cast as Loy's eccentric uncle and elderly, tart-tongued Louise Closser Hale steals every scene she's in as Loy's peppery companion.

This film is definitely pre-Production Code vintage, a fact made plainly obvious by Loy's lounge-in-the-tub scene. Considered rationally, many of THE BARBARIAN's implications are rather disturbing. That Loy could only be happy with the man who has humiliated, beaten, abused & raped her are decidedly unwholesome ideas to come from the pen of screenwriter - and liberated woman - Anita Loos.

Novarro sings 'Love Songs of the Nile' quite well, but interminably. If it sounds suspiciously like his previous 'Pagan Love Song' hit, it may be because the two songs share the same composers, Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed.

It's hard to rate this movie because of the combination of artistic admiration and cultural disgust it evokes. Following new archaeological finds, the elite classes of the U.S. went gaga in the 1920s and early 30s for the anything Middle Eastern, especially Egyptian. At this same time, Europe and the U.S. were in the process of shedding Victorian restrictions and recognizing that women, too, could have sexual feelings. Alas, what was called Orientalism did not stop Americans or Europeans from feeling superior to West Asians, but it did make the latter seem exotic and "romantic." And alas, again, the male film-makers of the time believed that one element of "romance" for a woman was a fantasy that some exotic brute would carry her off by force and ravish her (thus allowing her to express her long-denied sexual feelings). "The Barbarian" is a product of that era, a version of the same fantasy that had been seen in many earlier silent movies, most famously in Rudolph Valentino's "The Sheik." Its artistry is by no means perfect. The technical elements--sets, costumes, cinematography, editing, sound--are fine, but there is a jarring disconnect between the comedy of the first half of the movie and the drama of the second half. Some movies have found the right mix to pull this off (for example, "The Graduate"), but "The Barbarian" is not one of them. The character played by Roman Novarro is initially presented as a lascivious con-artist and later as a particularly annoying hustler (both of which are supposed to be "cute"), which makes it nearly impossible to later accept him as a sincere and honorable hero. The final scene is especially cringe-worthy. On the other hand, Myrna Loy gives an astonishing performance, both as the harassed female of the "comic" first half and in the dramatic second half (though even she can't save the last scene). She remains a believable human being in a role that is about as sexy as any role Loy ever played (and she played a lot of sexy roles). If you think the worst elements of U.S. cultural history are better denounced and rejected than tolerated as appropriate to their times, you will hate this movie. But if you do watch, please do it to mainly to admire Loy's wonderful performance.

Originally meant to be a steamy romance filled with temptation and scandal, The Barbarian comes off today as antiquated and shocking but for all the wrong reasons. Diana Standing (Myrna Loy) is a wealthy woman from America who comes to Egypt to visit the land of her heritage. Her mother was half Egyptian. There she meets a ruthless womanizer who cons himself into being her guide. Jamil El Shehab (Ramon Novarro) has a history of romancing women and taking their money. He sets his eyes on Diana who no matter how she resists, cannot escape the watchful and menacing eye of Jamil.

Beginning in the 20s, America went wild for all things Arab and mysterious. Women fainted at the thought of men like Rudolph Valentino ravaging them in the desert, something they feared but also longed for. These kinds of stories became commonplace both in Hollywood and in trashy romance novels. Thus, we have The Barbarian. What better subject (rape, brutality, forbidden desire) for a pre-code film? Although she wore a nude bodysuit in the scene, Loy takes a bath in a tub with no bubbles and few flower petals inside to cover her. The soft focus says it all; this movie is all about sex.

Unfortunately today, many women see Novarro as a brute and a savage. Their negative reactions to him make for difficult viewing. His character was intended to be representative of the nagging desire for the unattainable, but by todays standards, Jamil is creepy and bothersome.

Despite these obstacles, the film has some undeniably merits. Novarro's singing enhances the story with a lovely ballad that strains throughout. The direction by Sam Wood leaves the audience with just enough information to tell the story, but not too much as to be smutty. One shot in particular of Diana after her rape is movingly beautiful.

I loved this pre-code romance with Ramon Novarro and Myrna Loy as it hearkened back to the days of similar stories such as Valentino's Sheik movies.

Ramon has never been sexier than as the Egyptian prince who's moonlighting as something of a cad and a gigolo, but who really only has eyes for Myrna! And Myrna has never looked lovelier than as the high class American who is initially repelled by The Barbarian who abducts her. It's no wonder that she changes her mind in the end when you get a load of her future mother-in-law! The only problem that I had with the story was that the prince abducts Myrna's character which involves her at first being taken against her will, and the trek through the desert seemed to go on forever! This is a finely acted movie with great production values, including gorgeous sets and excellent secondary performances by Reginald Denny as Myrna's fiancé and Louise Hale as Myrna's no nonsense companion! Her tart tongued barbs steal every scene she's in! Ramon has a soft, melodious voice perfectly suited for sound and he gets to sing in several languages! Also look for Myrna in a bathing scene that could only have been done pre-code! Wonderful, escapist pre-code fare!