It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Fresh and Exciting

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

John Gilbert is an elegant and aplomb man; in this movie, he leaves little of that screen presence to great longevity. It's decent in parts, like how the woman's father plays the piano and it actually does manifest in the score; but really this movie is terribly old fashioned even for that time and it leaves little revolution. Is it entertaining? Well, yeah sometimes it can put you into the tracking field of what its intent is.William Nigh tries to intertwine avarice in the stages of love which is contrived. It's not like in Michael Curtiz' "Casablanca" where Rick actually is spiteful to Ingmar but there is a deep and rather oozing love that is poured into it; in this, John Gilbert is enamored, scoffing about how it's going to be a crooked old woman and having this completely changed, feels to me as if his character is sort of a pessimistic, which could bring an interesting dichotomy if it wasn't embedded into this movie with this type of old age romance.Though to be fair, the themes are already there from the get-go; it is supposed to be escapist. The problem is that in the Calihari you see no reason for the attachment between Mr Randy and Nolan's character; he is a derisive character, of course, only used for their greedy and rapacious thirst for the diamonds, using him as part of the experience. He so delightfully embraces Nolan, the only hiccup being her Dad's disapproval of the whole affair. "Oxen must not go loose or it will kill" - I don't actually recall seeing one but that's kind of irrelevant. The dehydration and murky desert atmosphere give it a real sense of the desert, though still pretty old fashioned theater for that point.William Nigh must have perspired as well as the whole cast (while not a lot) of this film; that also makes it feel genuine.The ending is actually rather bittersweet; still John Gilbert's performance did give this movie a certain weight. I don't think I have ever seen a movie with this type of cast and it made it feel a bit different, of course onwards there have been movies like this but I mean where the desert felt so small, yet feel like the sphere of it in such a short movie.Anyway, I do think it's a shame for Gilbert subsequent from this; that line "Your lips told me so, your eyes told me so..." and so on is the greatest travesty in the devolution of sound cinema and it's a shame to see an actor under the wing of the producer Irving Thalberg to die so young and be panned like that... So while it's all in all all right, I'll give this movie a 5 for the effort and toil that was most likely put into this movie. However, "The Jazz Singer" would have most likely snobbed its box office revenue at that point, seeing that it was a pretty big movie and got raved about for most of that year; I do understand that MGM's reluctance with Sound may have been the reason they showcased this movie at ease and so I don't really blame them for it; as we know the vitaphone was the failure to John Gilbert's career.

Herr Hugh Rand is the manager of an important African diamond mine and is waiting for a visit, more precisely, from Lord Stonehill and his daughter Diana; since he hasn't seen a white woman for years in such a desolate place, Herr Rand thinks that Herr Lord Stonehill's daughter won't be a beauty but an old maid, bow-legged and cross-eyed; but he is wrong, because she turns out to be a gorgeous lady and shocked by this unexpected surprise, Herr Rand tries to seduce her; but, as always happens with people in love, Herr Rand's love idiocy prevents him from seeing that this beauty is also a crook and the partner of her supposed father, another crook, natürlich!, who pretty soon kidnaps Herr Rand after robbing a tray of diamonds."Desert Nights" is an anodyne film production, directed by the anodyne Herr William Nigh, that uses many clichés of the adventure film ( Herr Nigh likes especially exotic film productions ); besides the film had a poor story. The film has little interest and the most remarkable aspect of this oeuvre is that it starred the important silent actor Herr John Gilbert in what was his last silent film and the beginning of his unsuccessful talkie career, decadence with a tragic ending.So, it is not strange that this German count hasn't enjoyed this film, because the Calahari desert is not Monte Carlo; not to mention that this Teutonic aristocrat prefers racehorses instead of those vultures and hyenas that can be seen in the film ( besides, these last ones have been part of the family for centuries... ), and doesn't understand the main characters of the film yearning for water when they are lost in the desert, instead of simply asking for a cocktail; not to mention the sweaty rags they wear in such a hot place instead of an impeccable and elegant Prussian uniform... In spite of all, there is something in common between those crooks and German aristocrats, their interest in diamonds; don't forget too that Herr Gilbert was an attractive seducer, the same as this German count…And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must enjoy a dessert.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

John Gilbert plays Hugh Rand, manager at the Crown Diamond Mines in Africa, he hasn't been near a woman in three years. When a Lord and his daughter, Lady Diana (played by Mary Nolan), are to visit the Mines as a first stop before a hunting trip, Rand expects a bow-legged, cross-eyed "old maid". But surprise! - Diana is a beauty and soon sparks are flying between the two as they can't stop gazing at each other across the dinner table and share a lovely waltz together as daddy accompanies them on piano. Soon another surprise though - Lord and Lady are actually impostors and crooks. They steal a sack of diamonds and set off across the blazing hot desert with Rand as their hostage. When their African escorts leave them in the lurch, the thieves must turn to their hostage to help them out of the desert and soon they find out there is something of more value to them than diamonds - water!With glistening sun and black shadows, this film is expertly photographed. John Gilbert comes across as a handsome charmer, and his co-star, beautiful Mary Nolan, handles her role nicely. The film includes a pleasing orchestral score that really suits this story well. I found this film to be quite a good one.

If Desert Nights had come out in 1926 instead of 1929 people would be far less critical of it. I thought it was a super sexy melodrama and romance, with great performances by John Gilbert, beautiful Mary Nolan, and Ernest Torrence, the perfect villain with a touch of humor.My favorite scene is in the beginning, before the trouble begins, when Ernest is playing the piano and the young couple, played by Mary and John, waltzed on the front porch. John Gilbert could have been a professional dancer, he was that good.The story is about a bunch of jewel thieves caught in the desert, but you really won't care. Just watch it for the stars, and to see just how gorgeous John Gilbert still looked in 1929. Sigh.9 out of 10 stars.