Baroud (1933)
Directed by Rex Ingram, Alice Terry

Film Review

Baroud is the last film to be made by Rex Ingram, the renowned Irish film director who made some magnificent contributions to the silent era of cinema. Dubbed by Erich von Stroheim as 'the world's greatest director' (some accolade for the man who habitually turned out such masterpieces as The Merry Widow (1925)). Ingram was one of the most influential cineastes of his generation, and many subsequent directors (notably Michael and Powell, David Lean) were greatly inspired by his work. Baroud was the only sound film that Ingram directed, made for Gaumont British Pictures. It is by no means up to the standard of Ingram's earlier work but it has some impressive moments. The epic battle scene at the end of the film, filmed entirely on location in Morocco, shows Ingram at his best - although the obvious lack of synchronicity between sound and image is jarring.

Where the film is far less successful is in its characterisation. The characters are neither engaging nor convincing and for the most part the film drags for want of a decent plot.  The frequent, generally inept, comic interludes are also slightly off-putting, giving the impression that someone has randomly spliced together a serious historical drama with a crass low-budget farce.  Ingram co-directed the film with his wife, Alice Terry, and plays the role of Duval in the English version (he also made a French version in parallel).  The film was not a commercial success, prompting Ingram to give up film making and resume his career as a sculptor and writer in America.

Film Synopsis

André Duval and Si Ahmed are fellow sergeants in the Spahis, the Algerian native cavalry of the French Army.  Duval falls in love with a native Moroccan woman, without realising she is Zinah, the sister of Si Ahmed and daughter of the Berber chieftain Si Allal.  Zinah's other admirer is Si Amaro, the leader of a band of ruthless native bandits, who intends to wipe out Si Allal and his people in a bloody attack on their casbah…