The Lady of the Harem (Raoul Walsh, 1926)

Hollywood Orientalism involving Iran#1: The Lady of the Harem

A lost silent from 1926, produced by Paramount, directed by Raoul Walsh.

"Jesse L. Lasky announced that The Lady of the Harem has been selected as the title for the Paramount picture which, under the working title of "The Golden Journey," Raoul Walsh has just made from James Elroy Flecker's play Hassan. The new title is considered exceptionally appropriate, as the story deals largely with the lavish harem of the Caliph of Khorasan, Persia, during the twelfth century. 

"Featuring Ernest Torrence, Greta Nissen, William Collier, Jr., and Louise Fazenda," said Mr. Laskey, "The Lady of the Harem will be one of the most colorful and sensational pictures ever produced by this company. Mr. Walsh, who directed The Wanderer and The Thief of Bagdad has filled  this new spectacle with all the colorful atmosphere of the East and I am confident that this production will receive an even  greater reception than was accorded The Wanderer." [From Moving Pictures, 1926]

The French poster for The Lady of the Harem (1926).

The story: "The glittering province of Khorasan groans under the heavy taxes and cruelties imposed by its tyrannical sultan; only Hassan, the kind-hearted confectioner, lives tranquilly. He joins Rafi, who arrives in the city in search of his beloved, Pervaneh, who has been taken by the sultan. In the slave market, Rafi gets enough money to buy her freedom, but she is abducted and taken to the palace by one of the sultan's men. Later, believing her dead, Rafi swears vengeance and organizes a band to terrorize the tyrant's officials. In disguise, the sultan attends a meeting of Rafi's cohorts and lures him to the palace by a message supposedly sent by Pervaneh; there the sultan stages a bacchanalian orgy to celebrate their death by torture. Hassan leads Rafi's men in a surprise attack on the palace in which the sultan is killed and his soldiers are routed. The lovers are united, and Hassan ascends the throne." [From AFI catalogue]

The image below from the sets which appears to be the same as The Thief of Bagdad, recycled here for Walsh's new orientalist fantasy.

An uncredited work for William Cameron Menzies? The sets of The Lady of the Harem.