A Son of the Sahara

As described in a film magazine review,{{cite journal |last=Pardy |first=George T. |title=Box Office Reviews: A Son of the Sahara |journal=Exhibitors Trade Review |volume= |issue= |pages=23 |publisher=Exhibitors Review Publishing Corporation |date=10 May 1924 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/exhibi00newy/page/n702/mode/1up |accessdate=8 December 2022}} {{Source-attribution}} Raoul Le Breton is brought up as the son of a sheik of an Arab tribe, although he has been to college. He falls in love with Barbara Barbier, who first accepts and later dismisses him when she learns of his native birth. Back in the desert, Raoul plans his revenge. In a raid he captures Barbara, her father, and Captain Jean Duval, who is a rival. She is sold as a slave but is secretly purchased by Raoul. French troops rescue the captives, but in the meantime it transpires that Raoul is the offspring of white parents, and he and Barbara find happiness together.

{{Cast listing|

• Claire Windsor as Barbara Barbier
• Bert Lytell as Raoul Le Breton [Cassim Ammeh]
• Walter McGrail as Capt. Jean Duval
• Rosemary Theby as Rayma
• Marise Dorval as Annette Le Breton
• Montagu Love as Sultan Cassim Ammeh / Colonel Barbier
• Paul Panzer as Cassim Sr.'s lieutenant / Cassim Jr.'s lieutenant / auctioneer
• Georges Chebat as Raoul as a boy
• Madame De Castilo

}}

A Son of the Sahara was shot on location in Algeria with an American cast.

Of the "Sheik" films of the 1920s, the plot of A Son of the Sahara was among the more racist in that Barbara, the European woman, completely rejects any romantic interest in Raoul until the very end of the film where it is established that he lacks any Arab ancestry and is fully French.{{Citation |first=Wesley |last=Jackson |editor-last=Bernardi |editor-first=Daniel |editor2-last=Green |editor2-first=Michael |contribution=A Son of the Sahara (1924) |title=Race in American Film: Voices and Visions that Shaped a Nation |year=2017 |pages=808–09 |place=Santa Barbara, California |publisher =Greenwood, ABC-CLIO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8NgoDwAAQBAJ |isbn=978-0-313-39839-1}}

With no copies of A Son of the Sahara located in any film archives,[http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.9379/default.html The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: A Son of the Sahara] it is a lost film. However, a trailer of the film survives in the Library of Congress.Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress p. 170 (trailer only) c.1978 American Film Institute

{{reflist}}

• Racism in early American film

{{commons category|A Son of the Sahara}}

• {{IMDb title|tt0015353}}
• [https://clairewindsor.weebly.com/a-son-of-the-sahara.html Stills] at Claire Windsor website
• [http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com/son_of_the_sahara.htm Still] at silentfilmstillarchive.com

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Category:1924 films

Category:American silent feature films

Category:First National Pictures films

Category:Films directed by Edwin Carewe

Category:Lost American drama films

Category:American black-and-white films

Category:Silent American drama films

Category:1924 drama films

Category:1924 lost films

Category:1920s American films

Category:1920s English-language films

Category:Lost silent American films

Category:English-language drama films

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