The Unholy Garden (1931) User Reviews

It's improved greatly by Colman.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 7 August 2011]

"The Unholy Garden" is a decent enough time-passer, but it is improved a bit because it stars the always suave and always entertaining Ronald Colman. It begins with an oasis of sin in the desert. In this far off place, various criminals from across the globe hang out here to avoid the police. But, because it's so far in the middle of nowhere, the local authorities leave the place to itself. This is where Colman and his group of 'friends' live. The group learns that a crazy old blind Frenchman is hiding out there and he's reportedly embezzled millions--millions this group of riffraff want to take. To do so, Colman pretends to be a friend to the old guy and his sexy daughter (Fay Wray). The problem is that Colman slowly starts to fall in love. What's he to do--his associates will kill him if he doesn't follow through with it but he can't bring himself to destroy Wray in the process.

All in all, a decent romantic crime film--mostly because Colman was so cool and likable. It's not a film that will change your life and there were a few problems (such as the fact that Wray and her father bore no French accents), but it's very enjoyable escapism.

Better Than Average Yarn

[barnesgene · 6/10 · 16 September 2014]

Setting aside all the implausible elements in the story, it's a pretty good, briskly told yarn, made exciting by the way the plot actually becomes more complicated as the film careens wildly to its conclusion. So it's easy to watch, first of all, this garden of unholy criminals in the middle of nowhere working through their mutually broken honor among thieves. Pre-code, you'll find only the hint of a bosom flashing from a very minor female character. Otherwise the sexual innuendos are largely verbal. Like another reviewer, I too appreciated the hotel-in-the-desert ambiance and its effervescent symbolism. And the strangely obsequious Arab natives flitting about never intrude upon the Westerners. Meanwhile Ronald Colman and ever-pleasantly baby-fatty Fay Wray may not be the last word in chemistry, but they do get the job done nicely.

The young Ronald Colman in action

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 6/10 · 7 August 2011]

Main Title: Ronald Colman, The Stud Sub-Title: The Usual Suspects

The attraction here is seeing the (relatively) young Ronald Colman in action. Colman had made 29 silent films, more than half of which have not survived...at least 1 in 1925 was one of the earliest Technicolor films. "Unholy Garden" was only Colman's 5th talkie, and what a wonderful and distinctive voice he had.

Here, a too suave English thief (Colman) escapes to a sleazy settlement in the Sahara Desert, where he accidentally meets up with an accomplice -- an all too dumb Warren Hymer, whom you'll probably recognize. He and other crooks at the decrepit desert hotel soon find a new target -- an old and blind baron who may have his own stash of stolen money. Colman sets out to grab the money, but to do so begins romancing the daughter -- Fay Wray (sans King Kong, and at the peak of her career). But word of his plan escapes, and Colman begins to seriously fall in love. No surprise there! Colman gets the money, but gives it to the daughter, and then separates from her.

As young and studly as Colman seems to be here, he was already 40! But he is smooth and sophisticated, as always.

The main drawback to this film is the supporting cast of thieves. All so very clichéd. And to think that this group would end up at a hotel in an Arabian desert...preposterous.

It's a decent film, but decidedly old-fashioned and very dated film (hence the rating of "6"). If we were living in the 30's I would rate it as a "7". The real reason to watch this film is, as usual, Colman.

Seedy and sweaty

[Spondonman · 5 September 2004]

This is a pretty oddball film, plot-wise and characters. I've seen it a few times now and still can't make up my mind on how good it is - or not. It is dated of course, but who cares when you can be ogling Fay Wray at her peak!

Just how unlikely is the basic situation - a hotel in the middle of the Algerian desert full of cut-throats and thieves plus one trigger-happy old blind man and his beautiful daughter sitting on but protecting a useless fortune for years. The brainy fugitive rascal Colman appears and the cut-throats' plans to rob the old man suddenly coalesce and are dependent upon our dashing anti-hero finding the loot for them. All of the characters without exception are dislikeable but I'm afraid I don't know how faithful this is to the original book, or whether it was simply designed for the movie that way.

Never mind, Colman uses the opportunity splendidly to woo Wray, and the two couldn't look more beautiful as when splashed by the Goldwyn moonlight - others would have burst into song! He later goes Noble in a tortured climax, but hey that's Love!

To the Faithful: well worth watching - after "Raffles" it's definitely my next favourite Goldwyn Colman potboiler. To the Unbeliever: you won't get it, wait for a violent remake.

Love and Loot in the Desert

[view_and_review · 6/10 · 25 August 2022]

Barrington Hunt (Ronald Colman) was on the run from the law for theft. He was helped out of the French occupied part of Algeria into the deserts with "the natives." A woman named Eliza Mowbray (Estelle Taylor), who hoped to get the reward for turning him in, was an unwitting accomplice to his escape. Once he reached the dilapidated desert palace hideout he was confronted by several other bandits hiding out. They all had designs on the Baron's loot. The Baron (Tully Marshall) was a blind older gentleman who lived upstairs in the rudimentary building and kept a pistol handy to shoot at any intruders. Barrington promised the group of bandits that he could coax the money away from the Baron by seducing his niece, Camille (Fay Wray).

It's rare that a man and woman come together, under any circumstances, and not fall in love. It can be the woman trying to seduce the man for something, the man trying to seduce the woman for something, or the two are together for completely benign reasons--the end result is always love. It's a cautionary tale, especially for married folks. Barrington Hunt was not exempt from this Hollywood axiom. He fell in love with Camille, but the question was would it alter his plans of theft or would he do the right thing?

Free on Internet Archive.

The leading man and the cameraman are the stars.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 12 July 2019]

With a producer like Samuel Goldwyn, screenwriters like Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, director George Fitzmaurice and cinematographers George Barnes and Gregg Toland, this film already has pedigree even before the cast and credits are mentioned. Leading man Ronald Coleman, perhaps the suavest star of the early 1930's, follows his role as the dashing jewel thief Raffles with his Park here as an elegant member of a team of crooks out to steal a fortune. But falling in love with the intended victim is never a good idea unless it's meant for the thief to reform, and when the victim is a lovely Fay Wray, reforming is easy.

Set in a gorgeous oasis of an Algerian desert, this opulent adventure is filled with sorted characters desperate to get their hands on the estate hidden by elderly Tully Marshall and his daughter Fay Wray. Colman is brought into romance her to find out where it is, and much to the chagrin of the fellow crooks, the romance he strikes with her seems a little more serious than they would like. Schemes against Colman begin, but by this time, the romance has taken off, and Colman is determined to beat them at their game. The suspicious Marshall, a wheelchair bound old man with a gun, isn't easily fooled, and it will take some convincing for Marshall that Colman isn't as sordid as the other residents.

Playing the hotel proprietor is veterans stage and silent screen actress Lucille LaVerne who utilizes a French accent here, and would later play La Vengeance (without accent) in "A Tale of Two Cites" starring Colman. Busy character actor Warren Hymer is among the gang members and is extraordinary bombastic. Colman gets 90% of the screen time, with Estelle Taylor stealing her scenes as a man hungry floozy. Goldwyn would cast her the very same year as the tragic mother of Sylvia Sidney in "Street Scene", and while she is rather pathetic here, she is having a lot of fun. This is a film that is a feast for the eye but may seem a bit pretentious to some. I found it enjoyable and sordid, and every element of pre-code scandal is deliciously presented.

Outlaw Town In The Sahara

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 4 August 2011]

Ronald Colman made no bones about it, The Unholy Garden with a most unbelievable story and situation just could not be carried even under the dulcet civilized tones of Ronald Colman. Although with his performance as Raffles in that film I can see why he was cast in The Unholy Garden.

Many westerns have had as plot situation the existence of an outlaw town where the forces of law and order for some reason are stymied and outlaws find refuge in a particular location. That's what we have here in the Sahara Desert in what I guess is either inner Algeria or French West Africa as it was known at the time. There's a town at an oasis and a big castle where fugitives who instead of joining the foreign legion take refuge. The Foreign Legion and/or the regular French Army just can't be bothered with just cleaning out, sheer laziness more than likely.

Anyway Colman who is a Raffles like thief is headed there. And when he arrives some of the others are conspiring against Tully Marshall who is blind cripple in a wheelchair and his daughter Fay Wray. Marshall embezzled money and the others get a hold of a letter saying if he brings back all or some part of the money not already spent, he can get a pardon and his daughter can live once again in Paris. As opposed to this place, who wouldn't.

But the fact that a fortune could be squirreled away has the rest plotting and scheming. Colman figures he can woo Wray and find out, but as things usually happen in the movies, he falls for the woman he's supposed to con.

I think you'll agree especially if you've seen The Unholy Garden that this is one ridiculous plot. Colman really has to stretch his cultured British charm to make this one plausible. Best in the cast just may be Estelle Taylor the sexy native girl who Colman also takes a shine to.

Not much grows in this Unholy Garden, especially entertainment.

Pseudo-exotic bore

[gridoon2024 · 4/10 · 23 April 2018]

Poor early talkie. Ronald Colman is fine as a gentleman bank robber, Estelle Taylor (as a vamp) outshines Fay Wray (as a good girl), but what really makes this film insufferable are the supporting characters, the crooks: they are all boring and overacted. I did not care for a minute whether they would get the loot or not, which is a problem, because that's the plot of the movie. The African desert looks more like studio backdrop. *1/2 out of 4.

Not typical Colman

[jcravens42 · 8/10 · 4 August 2011]

The acting style is dated, the production is low-budget, the characters are cartoonish, and the story is quite silly... but there is something about this movie I adore. There's no comparing Colman in RAFFLES to this role in THE HOLY GARDEN, as other reviewers have done - in the former, he's distinguished, elegant and urbane, an adorable, tame scoundrel any woman would be quite safe to be around (except for her heart, of course), but in THE UNHOLY GARDEN, the undercurrent of sexuality in his character will be a shock to anyone who is used to Colman in much less sensual, much more gentle roles. I'm used to seeing Clark Gable get this physical and sexual with his leading ladies, but Ronald Colman? Awesome! The dress-hooking scene with Estelle Taylor is delicious... If you are a Colman fan, you will adore this movie. If you're not, you may be one by the end - but don't expect to see him in other films in a role quite like this. In addition - lots of laugh-out-loud lines. What a shame the rest of the movie isn't as good.

Disappointing Pre-Coder Despite Coleman, Wray, and Hecht

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 30 November 2014]

Ronald Coleman Must have Thought when Sound Arrived in Hollywood that He Would Become an Even Bigger Star. What With a Voice that Could Melt Steel and the Coldest Femme Fatale Along with the Drop Dead Looks that Made Him a Silent Star. A Whole New World Would Open Up for the Likable Actor to Conquer.

It was Not to Be. Given Atrocious Projects He Very Quickly Became Box-Office Poison and Although He Continued Working for Decades, His Star was Never Again as Bright as During the Silents. The Double Life (1947) is a Welcome Exception.

In this Flop, Written by Ben Hecht and Co-Starring Fay Wray, a Very Busy Actress During this Period, Coleman is the Whole Show Surrounded by Unlikeable Clichéd Characters in a Dull, Dusty Setting.

The Film Never Really Clicks but is Mildly Engaging and Estelle Taylor as a Slinky Bad Girl Showing Some Pre-Code Vampiness, is a Highlight. But Warren Hymer as Coleman's Sidekick is a Distraction and Way Over the Top.

Overall, Pre-Code Fans Won't Find Much Here to Get Excited About and the Movie Mostly Just Lies There as the Desert Setting Isn't Very Exotic or Interesting. Worth a Watch for Pre-Code Completists, Fans of Coleman and Wray but Others May Find it Very Creaky. Not the Best Work of the Two Stars or Writer Hecht.

A pleasant surprise

[jimjo1216 · 24 April 2012]

I taped THE UNHOLY GARDEN (1931) off TCM a while back and I don't remember why. I probably wanted to see Ronald Colman and Fay Wray together in what seemed like a rare pre-Code film. The tape sat on my shelf for a while before I finally decided to give it a look, and I was pleasantly surprised. This is a great little movie from the wild world of early talkies.

Colman, ever charming and sophisticated, plays an notorious international criminal who holes up in a desert inn. There he meets a cast of unsavory characters of dubious repute. When it's discovered that the cranky blind man upstairs has stashed away a fortune, Colman agrees to win over the old man and his daughter (Fay Wray) in order to locate the loot.

The motley group of thieves and murderers is played by Kit Guard, Henry Armetta, Ullrich Haupt, Mischa Auer, Lawrence Grant, and Warren Hymer. Grant in particular leaves an impression as a Vincent Price-y doctor character, the cool-headed intellectual of the group. (The brief conversation Grant has with Colman about his three dead wives is a delightful bit of black humor.) There's something about these characters in this secluded setting that reminds me of SAFE IN HELL (1931).

RAFFLES (1930) meets SAFE IN HELL (1931), perhaps?

This film has an interesting pedigree, written by the prolific Ben Hecht (UNDERWORLD, SCARFACE, THE FRONT PAGE, NOTHING SACRED, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, NOTORIOUS, KISS OF DEATH, etc.) and his frequent writing partner Charles MacArthur.

This is a quick little film (75 minutes long), and it's enjoyable all the way through. The cast (also including a sultry Estelle Taylor and Tully Marshall as the dotty old man) is full of interesting characters, all staying together at the inn.

A kind of romance blooms between Colman and Wray, who is young and lovely, but cut off from the world by her reclusive father. Colman is her window into Paris and the glamorous outside world. The film mixes romance and caper thrills while cultivating an atmosphere of danger. Certain scenes give the film a dark pre-Code edge. (In one scene Wray tells Colman what kind of life awaits her at the inn among the cutthroats. She wants to "start" with him, so she could have something nice to remember later on.)

When things start to heat up, will Colman go through with his plans to swipe the cash? Will he double-cross the gang of crooks? Will he rescue the damsel and ride off into the sunset? Will he be tracked down by the French police?

At 75 minutes, THE UNHOLY GARDEN is exciting, creepy, oddly charming, sexy, spooky, and even a little sweet. Ronald Colman is a dashing hero, even when he's playing an outlaw. Fay Wray is very lovely and sympathetic. This little-known pre-Code flick should interest any fans of early talkies. Check it out if it comes your way.

precode Ronald Colman

[blanche-2 · 8 August 2011]

Ronald Colman and Fay Wray star in "The Unholy Garden," a 1931 film that is darn strange.

A fugitive from justice (Colman) winds up at a hotel in the Algerian desert where all the other thieves and killers hang out. Among them is lovely Fay Wray and her blind father. Word is the old man is hiding a great deal of money, and the thieves want it. Colman manages to become their leader, but his agenda is somewhat different from theirs.

Ronald Colman is delightful as Barrington Hunt, escaped con - fast talking, debonair, and charming. Wray is beautiful as the vulnerable, despairing Camille de Jonghe, who feels that her life will never change.

The atmosphere is marvelous - one really feels like they're in an Algerian hotel where danger lurks. Worth seeing for Colman and Wray.

"Decency Has Its Moments"

[stryker-5 · 26 March 1999]

The suave criminal Barrington Hunt heads for a hideout in the Sahara Desert. In the crumbling old moorish palace he meets a gang of desperados and the divine Camille. A plan intended to relieve Camille of her hidden loot misfires when Hunt begins to fall for her ....

Ronald Coleman plays his stock role of gentleman thief, and Fay Wray is Camille. Wray was a busy star at the time, averaging seven features per year between 1927 and 1934, though of course her name will always be associated with "King Kong", made two years after this crime thriller. "Don't worry - I'm rather good at this," says Coleman as he takes the wheel of Elize's sporty open-top car. He might have been talking about his handsome roue performance. In a long crescendo, the film builds towards the climax of the kiss in the ruined mosque. Coleman is very effective as the cad who is ennobled by love, and his look of regret as Camille leaves is harrowing. If Wray is guilty of an overly declamatory acting style, it can be conceded that this was the vogue of the time. Estelle Taylor as the sexy Elize has a voice that grates, but her performance grows on the viewer as the film progresses.

George Barnes' photography is beautiful, with Coleman backlit at crucial moments, almost like a saint with his halo. The set of the 'palais royal' is superb, deliciously seedy and rambling. There are nice glimpses of desert dunes, and the moorish architecture has an authentic look.

"The place is crawling with lizards," we learn, and this could just as well describe the human inhabitants of the palais royal. Fortunately for Camille, Hunt is cunning enough to outwit the pack of villains who haunt this remote lair. Hunt is able to turn his wasted life into something good and useful in a heroic gesture of self-denial.

Criticisms are limited to minor implausibilities. In such a forsaken spot, would the men all be clean-shaven every day? And would de Jonghe dress formally for Christmas Dinner? Would a disgraced German wear a military uniform out here?

Verdict - Stylish adventure, with Coleman at his most urbane

Hotel in the Sahara Desert crawling with criminal thugs...

[Doylenf · 4 August 2011]

RONALD COLMAN spent a fair share of his early career as a criminal on the loose. RAFFLES and THE UNHOLY GARDEN are some prime examples. Unfortunately, neither one of these films is rated high on any list of Colman's film resume.

THE UNHOLY GARDEN gets its title from the swarm of criminals and thieves residing at a seedy hotel in the Sahara Desert, where a beautiful young girl (FAY WRAY) is trying to keep her father's hidden wealth from the prying hands of a bunch of hoods determined to get their hands on the loot. Along comes gentleman RONALD COLMAN, himself a thief, who charms the girl but makes the mistake of falling in love with her. He finds his conscience before the final reel.

It's all played in a wildly overacted fashion with actors given to the kind of emoting that went out with silent pictures. Colman is credible in the lead but everyone else seems to be playing to the balcony.

The plot is similar to many other such crime capers, one in particular being a film made around the same time called SAFE IN HELL, whereby a young woman runs away from authorities to a South Seas island and must stay at a run-down hotel surrounded by unsavory criminals.

Nothing distinctive here about the story's treatment. Its only interest is giving the viewer a chance to see the young Ronald Colman playing a romantic lead.

Fun Film Thanks to Colman

[Michael_Elliott · 7 August 2011]

Unholy Garden, The (1931)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent little pre-Code about a blind old man (Tully Marshall) and his daughter (Fay Wray) who are staying at a hotel in the Sahara. The two keep themselves locked up in their room because there's a group of criminals in the lobby trying to come up with a way to get in the room and steal what could be millions from them. A suave criminal (Ronald Colman) then shows up and tries to get into the room and the daughter's heart his own way. THE UNHOLY GARDEN isn't a very well-known film but I found it to be a pleasant time killer thanks in large part to the performance of Colman who really shines here. The story itself is a mildly interesting one but at the same time you really have to suspend some disbelief that these cut-throats wouldn't have already gotten into the room and forced they way into finding out where the money was. There's a funny sequence dealing with the old man just shooting his gun off and I'm guessing this was the writers attempt to show that the criminals couldn't get in but I'm sure they could have came up with something else. The way Colman works his way into the room was at the same time a tad bit too easy. With that said, at just 74-minutes the film goes by very quickly and a lot of this is due to the very charming performance of Colman. It's almost as if the actor knew the material wasn't the greatest so he just really went all out in terms of charm. His character makes it easy to see why the daughter would fall for him but Colman is also brilliant at showing as slick this character is. This is especially true towards the end when he tries to save the daughter by lying to all the criminals to try and protect her. Wray, who would follow this up with such titles as DOCTOR X, THE VAMPIRE BAT, MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM and of course, KING KONG, is in fine form even if the screenplay doesn't do too much justice to her. The supporting cast includes Estelle Taylor, Warren Hymer and Lawrence Grant as a doctor who has murdered his three wives. The dialogue is at times fairly risky and there are many pre-Code elements, which are another plus. Overall, while the film certainly has some flaws it's still entertaining and that's the most important thing.