Le chant du Nil

The team of Ramon Novarro and Myrna Loy did not strike any sparks at the box office with this throwback film The Barbarian. The property had two silent versions and it was originally entitled The Arab. Novarro and Loy were ships passing in the night on the MGM lot, her on the way up and him on the way down;.

Loy is in Egypt with her stuffy British engineer fiance Reginald Denny. But when Novarro as an ever eager Arab guide insinuates himself in their company. she's gradually drawn to him.

After that it's a throwback to the silent screen when Rudolph Valentino was stealing the hearts of women everywhere. During the Depression era 30s this sort of stuff wasn't going over.

Novarro who had a pleasant singing voice gets to sing the Love Song Of The Nile. And since interracial romance was a big old no-no back in those days a most convenient excuse is provided for the happy couple.

Some similarities for Loy to the role she later played in The Rains Came, a much better film.

I am a big fan of classic films, so I was looking forward to seeing what I thought would be a good screwball comedy. Myrna Loy is a frequent performer in that kind of film. However I didn't find this to be very enjoyable at all. In fact I found it to be insulting. All throughout the film I was hoping it would get better but it gets worse. The biggest insult is how it ends.

I will not spoil the film but I will say that the way the Prince treated Myrna Loy's character is offensive. If you would like details, please read other reviews that contain spoilers.

I give it 3 stars only because the production quality of the film is excellent. It looks like it could have been made in the early 1950s.

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.

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?

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.