Marlene Dietrich's first Technicolor film is, in the simplest terms, beautiful.

The Garden of Allah follows Domini (Dietrich), who is lonesome after the death of her beloved father. In order to bring some change into her life, she heads off to the desert. At the same time, Boris (Charles Boyer), a Trappist monk, has decided to break his vows of silence and escape to the same destination. It is at the oasis that they meet, fall in love and get married.

Boyer plays the tortured soul with distinction. His dark European looks bode well with his character, as he struggles to throw off religion and keep the secret of his past from his new bride.

Excerpt from EyeForFilm located HERE

The Garden of Allah was based on a popular novel by Robert Hichens and had already been filmed twice before as a silent picture in 1916 and 1927. While still at MGM, Selznick envisioned Greta Garbo in the role of Domini, a devout woman who unknowingly falls in love with a Trappist monk who has fled his order in a crisis of faith. When Selznick left MGM and founded his own production company, Selznick International Pictures, he bought the rights to the story for $62,000. By then he had hired actress Merle Oberon to play Domini, but he ended up paying her $25,000 to cancel her contract since he didn't feel she had enough box-office draw. Selznick replaced her with Marlene Dietrich, on loan from Paramount, who still had box-office appeal despite a string of recent disappointments. Selznick paid her $200,000 and hired debonair French actor Charles Boyer to play the tortured monk, Boris Androvsky.

Selznick remained at his office in Culver City, California, while he sent the cast and crew to a remote part of the Arizona desert known as Buttercup Valley to begin shooting. He was well aware of Dietrich's reputation as a diva, and tried to put director Boleslawski's mind at ease about working with her. He assured him that he had talked to Dietrich about how high the picture's budget was and how "it was up to her to keep it from going higher." Selznick also cautioned Dietrich about her behavior, and she promised pure professionalism. In a memo to Boleslawski dated April 14, 1936, Selznick advised him to "go right ahead as though you were directing some newcomer, and not worry about any legend of Dietrich difficulties."

Gary Tooze

January 3rd, 2018