The Garden of Allah (1936)

Director:

Richard Boleslawski

Writers:

Robert Hichens (novel)
W.P. Lipscomb (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 November 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

They loved each other with the fierceness of those who have been denied love!

Plot:

The star-crossed desert romance of a cloistered woman and a renegade monk.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Monk | Monastery | Oasis | Secret

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Marlene Dietrich	...	Domini Enfilden
Charles Boyer	...	Boris Androvsky
Basil Rathbone	...	Count Ferdinand Anteoni
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Father J. Roubier
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Batouch
John Carradine	...	Sand diviner
Alan Marshal	...	Capt. De Trevignac
Lucile Watson	...	Mother Superior Josephine
Henry Brandon	...	Hadj
Tilly Losch	...	Irena

Runtime:

79 min | West Germany:75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #2405)

Filming Locations:

Buttercup Dunes, Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Selznick International Pictures

Trivia:

This is the movie that Cyndi Lauper is watching at the beginning of the video for "Time After Time".

Quotes:

Domini Enfilden: What an extraordinary man. Is he mad?
Batouch: Yes, he's undoubtedly English.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Star Is Born (1937)

Soundtrack:

Signora Luna

Technicolor Tripe

Whatever was Selznick thinking when he wasted so much gorgeous Technicolor photography on so much tripe? For a producer renowned for elevated the level of adult entertainment in the 1930's, it's shocking to see him select a script designed to appeal to the 3-year-old romantic in all of us. Not even the powerhouse leads can save this sandblown mess: Boyer's customary sincerity and craft is subverted by the preponderance of pretty-boy glamour shots that rival even those of Dietrich, and by the script's demands that he engage in silent-film "face acting" which was wildly inappropriate in the mid-30's, albeit even for characters experiencing spiritual crises. (However, the manful and professional way in which he handles these indignities is quite admirable.) And, Marlene's contempt for the proceedings fairly radiates from her porcelain mask of a face (which is no mean feat!); all the diaphonous gowns in the world can't disguise her phoned-in performance. She reportedly hated the sweltering location filming, causing her to fix her hair with bottles of hairspray, improbably turning it into a rigid helmet in the desert winds! (In all fairness to her, though, this must have been a difficult film for her, for she was in the midst of grieving for John Gilbert, who was to have taken the Boyer role.) Bottom line: savor the glorious, original Technicolor shots, and chuckle at the tacky dramatics.