Film was awarded a 2 for filming, but content earns a 0.While I can give a pass to certain inequities in movies, (i.e. the Nicholas Brothers dance number that Fred Astaire rated as the best dance number ever filmed) I draw the line at praising a film where a woman is kidnapped, raped, eventually returned, ridiculed upon her return, then runs off with her kidnapper/rapist, for the lame reason of her mother was half Egyptian, feeding into the stereotype that people of certain ethnic backgrounds should stick together.The cinematography of the film rated a 2 because that could be interesting.No matter when this picture was made, pre-code, post-code, whatever, there is no excuse for tolerating the torture of a woman, then have the woman go out of her way to return to her torturer. Sorry, no can do.

I love lurid, trashy pre-Codes. Love 'em a lot! And I usually love Ramon Navarro. But I hated him in this movie, and I hated this movie.We are supposed to believe that Myrna Loy's character (Diana) loves Ramon Navarro's character (Jamil), but we are never given any valid reason as to *why* she might feel this way about him. Jamil is a creep, through and through. Not a charming cad. Not a dangerous bad boy. Just a creep.Jamil lures Diana to a house under false pretenses and lures another man "Pasha" there too, letting Pasha think that Diana is hot for him and wants to meet for a tryst. Jamil then hands Pasha a whip as Pasha enters Diana's room. Off-screen we hear three blood-curdling screams. Pasha has used the whip on Diana. Niiiiiiice. (insert eyeroll here)Jamil then abducts Diana and takes her across the desert. In the evening he rapes her. OK, there I said it. Do not believe the other reviewers who say that Diana wanted it. She didn't, and the movie makes that clear to us. She rescinds from Jamil's touch and tries to fight him off. In the next scene (after the deed has been done), we see her sitting down with her clothes torn and tears on her cheeks. Jamil approaches her and she recoils and flinches in fear. So you tell me: rape or consensual sex? And at the end of the flick, she runs out on her own wedding to a fairly nice guy who clearly loves her, and runs off voluntarily with Jamil. Why???? The movie gives us not one good reason why we should root for this couple or feel sympathy for Jamil.It was just disgusting and vile. And not in a good way, like oh say Kongo or Three on a Match or Sign of the Cross or The Unknown or any other late 20s / early 30s really great lurid films are. This one was just pure trash. Don't waste your time!

I can't believe the reviews so far on this movie on IMDb. So far, one reviewer gives it a score of 1 and two others a 10!! The simple fact is that very, very , very few films deserve a 10 or 1 but reviewers routinely throw these numbers about without thinking. After all, there's no way that anyone could place this movie among GONE WITH THE WIND, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES or even STAR WARS just as there is no way this film deserves the same rating as BABY GENIUSES or PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE!!! Like most movies, a realistic score would definitely be somewhere in between.Now this isn't to say that the film reviewers were totally wrong. The one perceptive person who thought the movie was evil because it propagates "the rape myth" is 100% correct--the film is terrible because it seems to indicate that the way to a girl's heart is to kidnap and probably rape her--or at least whip her into submission!! In the 21st century I cannot understand how anyone could rate a movie that treats women like cattle with a score of 10! And, people who would kind of scare me.On the other hand, the film is gorgeous. The cinematography and costuming is incredible and made Myrna Loy (often the "nice girl" in films of the 1930s) into an incredibly alluring figure. Her bathing scene is simply one of the sexiest scenes in screen history--not so much for what it showed, but how it showed so much without showing everything as well as not being pornographic but artful and beautiful. She was, in many ways, like a modern Venus de Milo. Plus, when Ramon Navarro isn't busy trying to rape Ms. Loy, he is a very, very dashing and gorgeous figure himself. So beautiful and compelling that he was like a better and more romantic version of Valentino from THE SHEIK. Plus, given that Mr. Navarro was in real life gay, he deserves a lot of kudos for his convincing romantic scenes. The problem, though, is that the writers didn't know what to do with this romantic figure. One minute he is kind of funny and clever, the next he is an ardent suitor, the next he is selling her into sexual slavery and the next he's a sex offender trying to rape her!!!! The fact is the movie strongly implies he DID rape her (though it is a bit vague in this respect). And, having this confusing package ruins the wonderful romantic elements of the film. After all, what's romantic about a rapist or spousal abuse?! This is in the end, a complete muddled mess that could have been a wonderful film. With a re-write to remove the sick aspects of the film (the physical and sexual abuse AND Ms. Loy's ultimate choice to run away with this sick, twisted freak after being abused), it could have been among the most memorable and romantic films of the age. As it is, mostly it will be remembered for the pre-Code titillating bathing scene with Ms. Loy.

I am constantly amazed at how sexy the precode films of 1933 are (the last year before the Production Code was enforced, which resulted in all Hollywood actresses becoming virgins again overnight), including this intense movie, "The Barbarian", the story of an inter-racial attraction between a white British woman (Myrna Loy, looking exceedingly beautiful here) and an Arab prince (Ramon Novarro, in what has to be his sexiest role ever), who disguises his true identity as part of a coming of age tribal ritual. Myrna's character is attracted to Ramon's Arab the moment she steps off the train in Cairo, Egypt. Fireworks promptly ensue between the two but it is unclear that Ramon is actually falling in love with the woman he pursues until closer to the end of the picture.I completely disagree with another reviewer who called this movie "bilge" because of a certain scene in the desert. It is clear that Myrna finds the Arab desirable, so no real force was involved, it was mutual attraction right from the beginning. This was an important film role for Myrna Loy; she finally got to look beautiful and sexy on screen as the lead, instead of being cast in minor roles in silly exotic parts which didn't do much for her talents. It is not right to attack her memory, as the other reviewer here did, for a theme that has been repeated by Hollywood many times over the decades.Other cast members were perfect here, including dapper Reginald Denny as the fiancée who quickly realizes the Arab's true intents, and Louise Hale as the grandmotherly Powers, who comes off with some of the most hysterically funny lines in the picture.A wonderfully entertaining and intense film, and I give it a 10 out of 10. Excellent and very romantic. I just wish that Ramon's silent film "The Arab" from 1924, which was the basis for this re-make, was available to compare with this one, but unfortunately it is sitting in European archives and unlikely to ever be seen on video or DVD. Even "The Barbarian" is only available for viewing whenever TCM bothers to show it (usually once per year).