Nice effects though.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

John Gilbert is an elegant and aplomb man; in this movie, he leaves little of that screen presence to great longevity. It's decent in parts, like how the woman's father plays the piano and it actually does manifest in the score; but really this movie is terribly old fashioned even for that time and it leaves little revolution. Is it entertaining? Well, yeah sometimes it can put you into the tracking field of what its intent is.William Nigh tries to intertwine avarice in the stages of love which is contrived. It's not like in Michael Curtiz' "Casablanca" where Rick actually is spiteful to Ingmar but there is a deep and rather oozing love that is poured into it; in this, John Gilbert is enamored, scoffing about how it's going to be a crooked old woman and having this completely changed, feels to me as if his character is sort of a pessimistic, which could bring an interesting dichotomy if it wasn't embedded into this movie with this type of old age romance.Though to be fair, the themes are already there from the get-go; it is supposed to be escapist. The problem is that in the Calihari you see no reason for the attachment between Mr Randy and Nolan's character; he is a derisive character, of course, only used for their greedy and rapacious thirst for the diamonds, using him as part of the experience. He so delightfully embraces Nolan, the only hiccup being her Dad's disapproval of the whole affair. "Oxen must not go loose or it will kill" - I don't actually recall seeing one but that's kind of irrelevant. The dehydration and murky desert atmosphere give it a real sense of the desert, though still pretty old fashioned theater for that point.William Nigh must have perspired as well as the whole cast (while not a lot) of this film; that also makes it feel genuine.The ending is actually rather bittersweet; still John Gilbert's performance did give this movie a certain weight. I don't think I have ever seen a movie with this type of cast and it made it feel a bit different, of course onwards there have been movies like this but I mean where the desert felt so small, yet feel like the sphere of it in such a short movie.Anyway, I do think it's a shame for Gilbert subsequent from this; that line "Your lips told me so, your eyes told me so..." and so on is the greatest travesty in the devolution of sound cinema and it's a shame to see an actor under the wing of the producer Irving Thalberg to die so young and be panned like that... So while it's all in all all right, I'll give this movie a 5 for the effort and toil that was most likely put into this movie. However, "The Jazz Singer" would have most likely snobbed its box office revenue at that point, seeing that it was a pretty big movie and got raved about for most of that year; I do understand that MGM's reluctance with Sound may have been the reason they showcased this movie at ease and so I don't really blame them for it; as we know the vitaphone was the failure to John Gilbert's career.

Good-looking diamond miner Jack Gilbert (as Hugh Rand) shows visiting dignitary "Lord Stonehill" Ernest Torrence (as Steve) and his daughter around the South African "Crown Diamond Mines" before taking them out on a hunting trip. While looking forward to seeing a white woman, everyone expects "Lady" Mary Nolan (as Diana) to be unattractive, but she is unveiled as a beautiful blonde. As you might expect, Mr. Gilbert and Ms. Nolan are mutually aroused...All is not, however, as it seems...Nolan is revealed not to be the daughter, but the lover of dastardly "father" Torrence. The criminal pair plotted to abduct the real Lord Stonehill, and rob Gilbert at gunpoint. Succeeding in their deception, Torrence and Nolan take Gilbert hostage, and flee across the hot Kalahari desert. Then, "Desert Nights" becomes a tale of greed and desire, as the three struggle to survive with dwindling water in the hot sands. Gilbert's last "silent" is a fairly sound production.****** Desert Nights (3/9/29) William Nigh ~ John Gilbert, Ernest Torrence, Mary Nolan, Claude King

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

Herr Hugh Rand is the manager of an important African diamond mine and is waiting for a visit, more precisely, from Lord Stonehill and his daughter Diana; since he hasn't seen a white woman for years in such a desolate place, Herr Rand thinks that Herr Lord Stonehill's daughter won't be a beauty but an old maid, bow-legged and cross-eyed; but he is wrong, because she turns out to be a gorgeous lady and shocked by this unexpected surprise, Herr Rand tries to seduce her; but, as always happens with people in love, Herr Rand's love idiocy prevents him from seeing that this beauty is also a crook and the partner of her supposed father, another crook, natürlich!, who pretty soon kidnaps Herr Rand after robbing a tray of diamonds."Desert Nights" is an anodyne film production, directed by the anodyne Herr William Nigh, that uses many clichés of the adventure film ( Herr Nigh likes especially exotic film productions ); besides the film had a poor story. The film has little interest and the most remarkable aspect of this oeuvre is that it starred the important silent actor Herr John Gilbert in what was his last silent film and the beginning of his unsuccessful talkie career, decadence with a tragic ending.So, it is not strange that this German count hasn't enjoyed this film, because the Calahari desert is not Monte Carlo; not to mention that this Teutonic aristocrat prefers racehorses instead of those vultures and hyenas that can be seen in the film ( besides, these last ones have been part of the family for centuries... ), and doesn't understand the main characters of the film yearning for water when they are lost in the desert, instead of simply asking for a cocktail; not to mention the sweaty rags they wear in such a hot place instead of an impeccable and elegant Prussian uniform... In spite of all, there is something in common between those crooks and German aristocrats, their interest in diamonds; don't forget too that Herr Gilbert was an attractive seducer, the same as this German count…And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must enjoy a dessert.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/