Desert Nights (1929)

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Quick and easy to get through, this hour long silent adventure starring John Gilbert has to be seen to be believed. It's a story of the foreign manager of a diamond mine in Africa who finds himself conned and kidnapped by two jewel thieves. Ernest Torrance and his daughter (Mary Nolan) get their hands on recovered jewels and take Gilbert along with them as an insurance package. Keeping him out in the hot desert sun they believe might drain him of the desire to rebel, but he's clever and uses earlier flirtations with Nolan to break her down. It's a fun jaunt to watch him get the better of the two, particularly the nasty Torrance. There's not much to the story, corny and overloaded with clichés, a suave performance by Gilbert, and a few surprises along the way. What's fun is watching how Torrance comes to depend on Gilbert for his survival, having earlier tried to get Nolan to prevent Gilbert from getting water. Later on when they find a sudden desert oasis filled with clear water and waterfalls, the joy on Torrance's face explodes as he splashes around after seemingly days without water or a bath of any kind, and this increases the romantic entanglement between Gilbert and Nolan. Torrance goes from an extremely nasty villain to a childlike joy literally within seconds, and that makes his performance a standout. Nolan has several moments where she's romantic, then ruthless, and all of a sudden, like a star struck young girl finding love where she didn't expect it. Gilbert is more of a reactor, but several scenes show a glint in his eyes as his plans for his own survival come together. Technically, it's excellent, but overly silly and unbelievable, although the ending is one of those that gives you a sudden gasp of shock and humongous laughter to follow.

.....at their sheer beauty (in my opinion). If only Mary had stayed out of trouble. In my opinion (again), she was a first rate actress who was being given yet another chance to make good. She had been sacked from the Ziegfeld Follies a few years earlier for "disorderly conduct", she fled to the continent where, under another name, she became a popular film star. Fleeing bad debts she slunk back to America where under yet another name, she was given a Universal contract. Her two biggest successes were "West of Zanzibar" and "Desert Nights" both at MGM, the cream of the studios. If she had knuckled down to work, I feel sure she would have been offered an MGM contract as her talkie films show she had nothing to fear from the mike. But Universal was already tired of her shenanigans and by 1930 had let her go.Lord Stonehill and his daughter, Diana (Ernest Torrence and Mary Nolan) are due to arrive at the Crown Diamond Mine but as Hugh Rand (John Gilbert) jokes she must be cross eyed, bow legged and an old maid as no beauty would come to this God forsaken place. Being Mary Nolan of course she is a raving beauty and Hugh falls for her hard.In reality they are diamond thieves as Hugh finds out when he receives a wire from the real Lord Stonehill saying they have been delayed. This movie is lots of fun as Hugh is taken hostage on a safari. Hugh manages to untie his bonds and proposes to Diana that they both flee and leave the old "Lord" to take his chances - "Diamonds and youth, the world is ours" - he doesn't fall for the line that Steve is her father. Ernest Torrence adds another impressive evil villain to his rogue's gallery. Just when you think his Steve is a bit of a buffoon, one of his gang (who has opted to split the diamonds and head of on their own to Cape Town) staggers back to camp to die, revealing that the rest of the gang are dead because of a poisoned water hole. Steve then admits he did it and a stunned Hugh cries that he is a murderer and a fiend!!!Hugh promises to lead them out of the desert as long as "Baby" is part of the deal. There seems to be a bit of missing footage (I'm thinking a fight scene) because one moment Diana is pleading to Steve that they should give themselves up, seeing Hugh has the gun and the diamonds, the next scene Steve has the gun and has accidentally walked right back to the diamond mine. As for Diana - she has been back long enough to have a shower and to look very cool and inviting, and as Hugh says "I will give you your freedom but you will have to report to me every day - for the rest of your life".This was an excellent film and it had something for everybody. Adventures in the desert, Mary Nolan looking very easy on the eyes as she battled thirst, mirages and fending off the amorous advances of John Gilbert, who looked very handsome in his safari gear. There is even a partial nude scene involving Nolan (who else) when they finally found an oasis that wasn't a mirage. And also Ernest Torrence who boosted any movie he happened to appear in.

I just got this DVD and watched it with mixed feelings anticipating to see a declining star. I was surprised to find (despite the obviously missing reel) a star at his top in a gritty action drama.Jack Gilbert is very good as the kidnapped manager of a diamond mine as he schemes and bluffs his way from being tied up and about to be killed to capturing his capturers. His Rand is a gritty, ruthless equal to a murderer and a dubious moll.A key scene is when he is tied up and being threatened by the murderer. Gilbert laughs as he is threatened. What is interesting is his laugh. It is not an Errol Flynn laugh. Nor is it hysterical. Rather it is edged with black and nervy tension and is surprisingly scary. Gilbert's Rand is not a nice guy. He plays their game with equal viciousness and deceit.Another scene occurs early on when the 'Lady Diana' mockingly aims a rifle at Rand. For a second his eyes go gritty. No proper English woman would or should aim even an unloaded rifle at someone. How does Gilbert do it? A split second look as his Rand registers that there is more to this pair than appearances say? The film is gritty and clearly entering Pre-Code in it's sweat, torn clothes, undone blouses, semi nudity, and ungallant threats by all three players toward each other. Everyone threatens everyone and the sexual tension between all three is very Pre-Code risqué. Rand kisses the moll in one scene ---by force and unwanted -- and teases her lover by entering her tent in the night in another scene --- and closing the tent flap! The title cards are gritty and it is interesting to speculate if Gilbert's wish for this to be his first talkie had happened. Would this have launched him into sound better? It is more modern and gritty and just might have saved him. As it was, it is an interesting and teasing addition to the mystery of John Gilbert and why he fell from superstar to failure in only six years.J E F Rose

There's not much distinctive about William Nigh's direction of "Desert Nights," unless you consider anachronisms distinctive. This being a late silent film, you might expect fluid camera work, tracking shots, and other editing techniques that by this time so beautifully conveyed the eloquence of the silent cinema aesthetic. But with the fast approaching obsolescence of the medium it's clear from this film that MGM was only interested in turning out a filler product, and Nigh was willing to oblige. The result is a film that, were it not for the 1929 fashions and automobiles, has the look and feel of early 1920s desert melodrama. In fact, the film's one truly memorable scene, featuring a waltz, depends on the synchronized score for its notability--a sign of the movies' obsession with sound over visual storytelling. John Gilbert, his career by this time quickly slipping through his fingers, plays the hero who is not given the chance to act very heroically. His metaphoric emasculation is evident from the amount of time he spends either tied up at the mercy of his captors or dying of thirst. He is denied almost every opportunity to display his physical prowess or to come to anyone's dramatic rescue--partly because there's no one around worth saving. The plot is full of holes (why didn't the crooks just shoot Hugh Rand instead of taking him with them?), and the unfortunate and abrupt loss of footage at the dramatic confrontation with Ernest Torrence spoils what should have been the climax of all that has come before it. We're left with a rather limp and silly conclusion back where it all started, with Torrence uttering the kind of line that surely inspired every Scooby Doo villain, and Gilbert safely back behind a desk.On a more positive note, mention should be made of Mary Nolan, who brings a certain presence to an under-developed role. She and Gilbert do display chemistry in their scenes together (especially the waltz), and Ernest Torrence delivers a characteristically accessible and natural performance. He is truly one of the most engaging character actors of the silent screen. The print shown on TCM, while truncated, is beautifully preserved, and the synchronized score is generally quite good, again notably in the waltz scene. Finally, the film is worth viewing for John Gilbert. Though this film is ultimately beneath him and can't bear comparison to such greats as "The Big Parade," "The Merry Widow," "The Show," and his appearances with Garbo, he still conveys the wordless charisma that so defined him, but ultimately confined him to the silent screen.