David Allen THE BARBARIAN (1933) starring Ramon Navarro and Myrna Loy is/was an agreeable, no-brainer "B" movie with "A" movie stars of talent, esp. Loy.It's a desert romance story of which the 20's were packed (both Valentino SHIEK movies, THE DESERT SONG and others less famous).None of the Arabs had dark skin, and all of the Oases had unpolluted water holes and half moons shining through the sweeping palm trees and all the sand looked like White Sands, New Mexico with huge (but firm, easy to walk on) sand dunes.Hollywood's idea of the desert in "Arabia." The movie is a "girl's movie" (called a "Chick Flick" nowadays) written by GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES author Anita Loos.The movie is about a pushy (probably feminist), spoiled "half Egyptian" leading lady with an American accent about to marry an English aristocrat in Egypt (but who runs off with Ramon Navarro at the very end of the movie..... Ramon had told her when he abducted her in the middle of the movie and proposed marriage that she won't have to be part of a harem, but makes her wait for water at an Oasis waterhole until the horse drinks first, then he drinks.....she's last to drink.)Girls buy movie tickets.Young guys between ages 18 and 24 courting girls and trying to keep the girls happy ALSO buy movie tickets for girls!"Keep the girls happy" is what this movie is all about.She's a pushy, spoiled USA feminista, and the guys (two of them!) both think she's wonderful!It's just like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1988) starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal.They guys never learn, the girls always win. The guys always pension off the girls at an early age (which is why marriage is so popular with young girls) and kill themselves to do it, and the girls live 30 years longer than the guys, thanks to the good life the martyr husband earned for them before he died early! Unpardonable cynicism, but I put to you and leave it with you.Old story, and it still goes on!The rising races of the world (Orientals, Latinos in the USA) ALL support the ladies, lots of children, and "family values" and the disappearing races (White people loyal to each other in the USA esp.) disappear because their numbers shrink and disappear, like a water hole during a drought.So it goes, and THE BARBARIAN (1933) shows why!Myrna's famous bathtub "nude scene" was dull and boring, (not as good as Maureen O'Sullivan's swim with Johnny Weismuller in TARZAN AND HIS MATE 1934).Myrna was/is a true movie star, and was the best actor in the movie. A pleasure to watch her act.Ramon Navarro wasn't terrible, but also wasn't convincing. His career didn't continue in the sound era, and this movie shows why.

mmallon4 The Barbarian has to be seen to be believed. That's if you're able to believe this unbelievably ridiculous plot. Ramon Navarro's Jamil is the textbook definition of a creep and why the characters in the movie take as long as they do to realise this is beyond me. Throughout much of the film he treats the Myrna Loy's Diana like dirt. He kidnaps her, drags her into the desert, has her whipped by another man so he can pretend to save her and on top of that, or at least what's implied, he rapes her. Throughout The Barbarian I was thinking there's no way these two are getting together at the end of the film but with only five minutes run time left to go, Diana ditches her nice loving fiancé for the man who earlier in the film kidnapped her and made her life a living hell. Why?! Stockholm syndrome, abused wife syndrome, girls just love a bad boy syndrome?The final scene of the movie shows the two in a loving embrace on barge under the moonlight, implying that his ending is supposed to be happy. Uh no, this is dark and disturbing. This women is with a man who is the most morally dubious character being presented as the hero of the story I've ever seen. Is it supposed to be ironic or just horribly misguided? The Barbarian however is a rare instance of a movie which I feel kind of bad for having enjoyed, like I have to have the TV facing the wall in the corner of a room with the volume lowered, not letting anyone knowing I'm watching such a thing; or at least that was the case until I decided to post a review on the internet.So what makes this movie enjoyable? For starters, there is the unmitigated joy that comes from watching politically incorrect pre- code movies. I've seen some crazy pre-code films but this just takes the cake. It's like a train wreck, it's so shocking but you can't look away. Moments of The Barbarian are shocking, other times it's unintentionally funny, yet despite this bizarre mish-mash, the film works. It's engaging and there's tension throughout, the sets and locations are superb, feeling like a tourist brochure at its exotic interiors and landscapes and there's Myrna Loy's bathtub scene, a moment of astounding risqué beauty and one of the sexiest scenes in all of cinema. Loy actually shows a lot of skin throughout the film in a range of skimpy attire. This is also the only movie I've seen to date which shows that the Pyramids of Giza are right beside the city of Cairo and not in the middle of nowhere - Who knew! Watch and observe The Barbarian in all its unbelievable pre-code glory.

Gwenhwyvar Ramon Novarro and Myrna Loy get caught up in a torrid romance in one of the last of the pre-code "sheik" films. To anyone who has not seen "The Sheik" or "The Son of the Sheik", the two most famous examples, the plot is simple. Sexy Arab guy (or white guy posing as an Arab) falls for a Western girl and abducts her across the desert sands where red hot (for the time) romance blooms. Fan magazines of the 1920's would gravely discuss the pros and cons of the "cave man approach" to love. "The Barbarian" must have seemed like something of an anachronism when it was released in the early 30's.Myrna Loy plays Diana, an American girl with an Egyptian mother. Neatly removing any objections to an interracial romance, this sets the stage for Jamil to enter her life. Novarro's character is a prince posing as a driverman. What exactly he is prince of is unclear since the script will alternately talk about Egypt, Mecca and Tehran as his domain. Quite a cosmopolitan, it seems.But to Diana, he is a servant and she treats him accordingly. That is, when she is not swooning over his admittedly pleasant singing. But station is station and Jamil's love for Diana takes a decidedly warped turn when the inevitable abduction occurs.There seems to be disagreement among the viewers as to whether or not Jamil forced himself on Diana. It seems pretty clear to me that he did. Whether or not she liked him at the time is up to the opinion of the viewer. That does not, however, alter the fact that she was raped. If the viewer believes that she liked him, merely add "date" before the verb. Same crime, different circumstances. For an interesting comparison, try seeing the "love" scene in the equally silly "Fountainhead".The rest of the film concerns the reactions of Diana's fiancé (Reginald Denny), who isn't really given much to do but stand about and look outraged, and the rest of the cast, who are divided into pro and anti-Jamil camps. Which man Diana will choose is fairly obvious if you know anything at all about Hollywood movies of this time. After all, he IS a prince and she IS half-Egyptian and they DID, well, you know...So, how was it? Myrna Loy is lovely and tries her best but one gets the impression that she is smarter than the script, provided by the overrated (and supposedly liberated) Anita Loos. As for Ramon Novarro, he is a personal favorite for his silent work but he is miscast here. Novarro, by all accounts, was a very pleasant man and he just is not convincing in the smoldering roles. He just seems too nice. He was far better with sincere, heroic characters and in light comedy. Sadly, his dark good looks and last name ending in a vowel condemned him to a certain number of Latin Lover roles. He is very charming at the beginning of the film, when is character is more of a rascal. I particularly liked the scenes of him romancing female tourists in English and German! Is it worth it? Yes, for the glimpse of pre-code Hollywood and just how much they could get away with. It is fun to see big stars in non-typical roles. It will certainly start many discussions of race and gender relations in classic Hollywood. My interest is, frankly, more for research than entertainment. If the plot sounds romantic to you, go for it. If it horrifies you, stay away. If you're like me, you will enjoy the context and theory of the film more than the film itself. It would certainly make a fascinating selection on a DVD set concerning race in early Hollywood. Hint, hint.PS, does anyone know what language everyone is speaking? It doesn't sound like Arabic but I am no expert.

overseer-3 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).