The Unholy Garden (1931 film)
Encyclopedia
The Unholy Garden is a 1931 drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by George Fitzmaurice
George Fitzmaurice
George Fitzmaurice was a film director and producer. Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage...

  and starring Ronald Colman
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...

. It was based on a story by Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of...

 and Charles MacArthur
Charles MacArthur
Charles Gordon MacArthur was an American playwright and screenwriter.-Biography:Charles MacArthur was the second youngest of seven children born to stern evangelist William Telfer MacArthur and Georgiana Welsted MacArthur. He early developed a passion for reading...

.

Plot

Suave English thief Barrington Hunt (Ronald Colman) rendezvous with his uncouth American accomplice, Smiley Corbin (Warren Hymer
Warren Hymer
Warren Hymer was an American film actor. He appeared in 129 films between 1929 and 1946.He was born in New York, New York, and died in Los Angeles, California...

), at a rundown hotel in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Hunt is annoyed to learn that Smiley, who has a weakness for women, lost the proceeds from the latest robbery when he met a "dame".

He soon finds a new target for his larceny in the aged, blind Baron de Jonghe (Tully Marshall
Tully Marshall
William Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...

), a longtime hotel resident with an unsuspected cache of stolen money. He sets out to determine its hiding place by romancing Camille (Fay Wray
Fay Wray
Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong...

), de Jonghe's attentive, inexperienced relative. When Smiley falls for Eliza Mowbray (Estelle Taylor
Estelle Taylor
Estelle Taylor was an American Hollywood actress whose career was most prominent during the silent film era of the 1920s....

), however, he blabs to her his boss's plan. Soon, every one of the motley assortment of fugitive criminals and murderers who inhabit the hotel knows, and Hunt is forced to promise each a share of the loot. To complicate matters even further, Hunt falls in love with Camille, and she with him.

The location of the money is revealed when the baron becomes extremely agitated when Hunt offers to start a fire in his in-suite fireplace. Hunt keeps this discovery to himself, but tells Smiley to borrow the key to Eliza's car.

The crooks, having grown impatient with Hunt's leisurely courtship of Camille, demand action. Hunt suggests privately to pairs of criminals that the money would be better divided amongst three partners. They all agree.

Meanwhile, Alfred (Charles Hill Mailes
Charles Hill Mailes
Charles Hill Mailes was a Canadian actor of the silent era. He appeared in 290 films between 1909 and 1935.He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and died in Los Angeles, California...

), the baron's brother, arrives with a promise of amnesty if de Jonghe will return the money he stole. De Jonghe insists it is legitimately his, and that Camille is to have it after he is gone.

Later, after de Jonghe leaves to enjoy holiday festivities, Hunt sneaks in, searches the chimney and locates the money. He pockets the loot and puts the metal box back where he found it, then slips away. De Jonghe becomes suspicious and returns to his room. As he is retrieving the box, he is seen by one of the crooks, who shoots him dead and flees with the box, unaware it is empty. The sound of the gunshot rouses the rest of the residents. It does not take long for them to realize that Hunt has double crossed them all. However, while Smiley holds them off with his gun, Hunt gives Camille the money and sends her to safety with Alfred de Jonghe. He tells the tearful young woman that this is the first good thing he has ever done and that she will be better off if she is not found in the company of a wanted fugitive. Then, he and Smiley make good their own escape. As they are driving off, Smiley asks about his share of the money. Hunt presents him with a flower, explaining that he met a "dame".

Cast

  • Ronald Colman
    Ronald Colman
    Ronald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...

     as Barrington Hunt
  • Fay Wray
    Fay Wray
    Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong...

     as Camille de Jonghe
  • Estelle Taylor
    Estelle Taylor
    Estelle Taylor was an American Hollywood actress whose career was most prominent during the silent film era of the 1920s....

     as Eliza Mowbray
  • Warren Hymer
    Warren Hymer
    Warren Hymer was an American film actor. He appeared in 129 films between 1929 and 1946.He was born in New York, New York, and died in Los Angeles, California...

     as Smiley Corbin
  • Tully Marshall
    Tully Marshall
    William Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...

     as Baron de Jonghe
  • Lawrence Grant
    Lawrence Grant
    Percy Reginald Lawrence-Grant was an English actor known for his supporting roles in films such as The Living Ghost, I'll Tell the World, The Mask of Fu Manchu, and Son of Frankenstein...

     as Dr. Shayne
  • Ullrich Haupt as Colonel von Axt
  • Kit Guard as Kid Twist
  • Henry Armetta
    Henry Armetta
    Henry Armetta was an Italian movie character actor who appeared in at least 150 films, starting in silents as early as 1915 to a movie released in 1946, after his death.-Biography:...

     as Nick the Goose
  • Lucille La Verne
    Lucille La Verne
    Lucille La Verne was an American actress known for her appearances in silent, scolding, and vengeful roles in early color films, as well as for her triumphs on the American stage....

     as Lucie Villars
  • Mischa Auer
    Mischa Auer
    Mischa Auer was a Russian-born American actor.-Early life:Auer was born Mikhail Semyonovich Unskovsky in St. Petersburg, Russia...

     as Prince Nicolai Poliakoff
  • Henry Kolker
    Henry Kolker
    Henry Kolker was an American stage and film actor and director...

     as Col. Lautrac
  • Charles Hill Mailes
    Charles Hill Mailes
    Charles Hill Mailes was a Canadian actor of the silent era. He appeared in 290 films between 1909 and 1935.He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and died in Los Angeles, California...

    as Alfred de Jonghe
  • Wilhelm von Brincken
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