The Garden of Allah (1936) [Re-UP]

Posted By: Someonelse
Date: Oct. 7, 2015

The Garden of Allah (1936)
DVD5 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 4:3 | 01:19:06 | 3,91 Gb
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English, French, Spanish
Genre: Drama, Romance

Director: Richard Boleslawski
Stars: Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Tilly Losch

Domini, an heiress who has led a cloistered life, visits the North African desert for spiritual renewal. There she meets Boris, recently escaped from a Trappist monastery. Their friendship ripens into love, but he conceals his past from her. Then in a remote oasis, they meet a man who knows his secret.

IMDB - Nominated for 2 Oscars | | Wikipedia | TCM | Amazon



The Garden of Allah is quite a treat. Every shot is a beauty, and a ravishing new closeup of Ms. Dietrich is never more than 20 seconds away. This was just before Dietrich's dark period when she was branded as boxoffice poison. Her artistic Von Sternberg vehicles were rejected for more down-to-Earth, populist fare, the kind Frank Capra was making. Away from Sternberg and under the guidance of Richard Boleslawski and producer Selznick, Dietrich here matches the glamour and artificiality of her previous pix, but not their artfulness. The Garden of Allah is too silly even to pretend to pretension. But it has other graces.


Like bad women's literature, everyone around Domini is enthralled by her and dedicated to her problems. The church seems to have a special budget to worry for her soul, and every man she meets is an instant acolyte. The social setup is strictly fairy tale. All we know about Domini is that her two suitcases contain more beautiful clothing than the average issue of Vogue, which always looks impeccable and doesn't need ironing.


One improbable outfit is a silvery metallic dress fit for the wife of alien Klaatu. North Africa is a place to meet charming people like the sexless but witty Batouch (Joseph Schildkraut, the best actor in the film) and exotic places such as the crowded, sex-charged nightclub where the equally incredible Tilly Losch dances. Money is never an issue, as the fantastic safari-honeymoon into the dunes seems to be provided by the Count as normal courtesy.


The Garden of Allah is a chestnut of a story made at least twice before. Selznick had a weakness for literary adaptations; one wonders if this property was suggested by his story editor Val Lewton. The Boyer character is not only Russian, but melancholy and self-absorbed in a typically Lewtonesque way.


The strength here is the strong performances. Although his moral dilemma is a trivial gimmick, Charles Boyer is never less than compelling, and his 'big impassioned speech' scene is an extended closeup that shows undeniable skill and definite star power. Dietrich rarely relaxes long enough to resemble a human, but is fascinating to watch.


In able support, the above-mentioned Schildkraut manages the comic relief without being a racially slandered buffoon, of the kind that crop up in many Selznick films. Horror fans will enjoy the controlled, able John Carradine as 'The Sand Diviner', a seer who foretells Domini's unhappiness by plunging his fingers into a dish of good ol' Sahara grit.
DVD Savant

Special Features: None

All Credits goes to Original uploader.

No More Mirrors, Please.

My DVD Collection!

A798B1E701191EB453B558FFA4282342 *Garalla.avaxhome.ru.part01.rar
0C2512B3309F75E51E0E96E347DA0521 *Garalla.avaxhome.ru.part02.rar
94E4E9453CAB65A6B1A55EC527FDD9CB *Garalla.avaxhome.ru.part03.rar
9D9CB767ACBE8AFEB0A732286BAA8A8F *Garalla.avaxhome.ru.part04.rar
6F9C3400007446EA2A9C9C716E41E7EE *Garalla.avaxhome.ru.part05.rar
7E2313D9628B56EE4A8C00EBB013BF8E *Garalla.avaxhome.ru.part06.rar
21EB071EF49CD80E430311379F95D780 *Garalla.avaxhome.ru.part07.rar
F07AF7E51609C7403B57A8F26DABFE93 *Garalla.avaxhome.ru.part08.rar
B68E6F8AEA1E9B782985067C4B2D7A75 *Garalla.avaxhome.ru.part09.rar
Download:


password: www.AvaxHome.ru

Interchangable links.
Download full movie The Garden of Allah (1936) [Re-UP]
Subtitles (from opensubtitles.org)