The Coming of Amos

Opening with uninspired stock footage of the Australian outback, this is the story of a sheep farmer (Rod LaRocque) who falls in love with an expatriate Russian princess (Jetta Goudal) while visiting his uncle on the Riviera, only to discover that another man (Noah Beery) already claims her. Here we have all the elements of a fairy tale: an enchanted location, a handsome hero, a wicked adversary in a castle, a damsel in distress. If there was any depth to the novel on which this film was based, it disappeared in the transfer to celluloid. What we get is a love triangle spiked with action involving fists, blades and boomerangs, and a good deal of striving for comic effects from the supporting cast which includes Trixie Friganza and others. Produced but not directed by Cecil B. DeMille, some of the costumes and sets bear his lavish imprint. Perhaps the original score has been lost. The music on the DVD I saw, from a company called "Televista, Inc.," consists of various classical and ethnic standards haphazardly synced to the action; this uneven and not terribly compatible accompaniment does nothing to enhance this raggedly structured melodrama. Also the print quality is far from pristine. Only so-so.