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The Worst Film Ever

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

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.

Main Title: Ronald Colman, The Stud Sub-Title: The Usual SuspectsThe 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.

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.

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