The Garden of Allah

Summary

In this 1916 Selig Polyscope production, the narrative canvas is doused in the ochre hues of the Sahara, where Domini Enfilden seeks an existential reprieve from a legacy of familial collapse. Her father’s deathbed apostasy and her mother’s scandalous flight leave her adrift, leading her to the spiritual vacuum of Beni Mora. Here, she encounters Boris Androvsky, a man whose visceral intensity masks a fractured soul. Their courtship, flourishing in the verdant 'Garden of Allah,' culminates in a marriage that serves as a temporary bulwark against their respective ghosts. However, the arrival of Captain De Trevignac precipitates a devastating revelation: Boris is not merely a traveler, but Father Antoine, a Trappist monk who abandoned his liturgical duties for the ephemeral warmth of human touch. The resulting collision between ecclesiastical duty and carnal devotion forces a renunciation that is both tragic and transcendent, as Boris retreats to his cloister, leaving Domini to nurture their legacy in the silence of the dunes.

Synopsis

When her mother elopes with a lover and her father dies cursing the name of God, Domini Enfilden attempts to forget her pain in Beni Mora, an oasis in the Sahara. At the desert hotel, she meets and falls in love with Boris Androvsky, a tormented man of mystery. Abruptly announcing his departure one day, Boris bids farewell to Domini in the Garden of Allah, but passion overwhelms them, and after making love, they are married by Father Roubier. The two are happy until Capt. De Trevignac, a dinner guest, recognizes Boris as the former Father Antoine, a priest whose irrepressible lust forced him to leave the monastery. De Trevignac says nothing, but after his departure, Boris confesses to Domini, who urges him to return to the monastery. The years pass, and Domini rears her son Boris in the Garden of Allah.