Kiss of Araby

In the Arabian desert, Captain Randall of the British Army wrongly accuses Sheik El Rahman of robbing caravans carrying goods to and from a local village. Although El Rahman protests that he received the goods in exchange for horses and sheep, Randall sentences him to twenty lashes. At the post, the wife of the post commander, Major Courtney, has developed a romantic attachment to Randall during Courtney's absence. When Lieutenant Lawrence, who has been in the desert for ten years, returns, he learns about the affair and hears that El Rahman is to be punished. To prevent an Arab uprising, Lawrence countermands the order, and Randall, in whose hands the post has been left, places him under arrest. When Major Courtney returns, he finds a note left by Randall about the arrest and goes to Lawrence's apartment to discuss it. Randall and Mrs. Courtney, who are together, hear Courtney's approach, and in her haste to leave Randall's apartment before Courtney arrives, Mrs. Courtney stumbles into Lawrence's apartment just as Courtney walks in. Suspecting Lawrence of an affair with his wife, Courtney tells Lawrence he will recommend a court-martial and informs his wife that they shall return to their home in England immediately. After they leave, the lovelorn Randall, who is now permanently in charge of the post, visits the tent of Alysha, a native dancer who is in love with him. When El Rahman, whom Randall has forbidden to enter the village, learns of Lawrence's arrest, he invites him to stay in his tent in the desert. As they are on their way to El Rahman's tent, an Arab informs them that the bandits are attacking the caravan again. Meanwhile, Randall rides into the desert to find the bandits who have abducted his fiancée, Miss Dolores Mendez, who was travelling with the caravan. El Rahman and Lawrence rescue Dolores from the bandits, and although a sheik, Talib, tries to claim her as his wife, Lawrence insists that she be allowed to return to the post. Before she can leave, however, Lawrence has dinner with her, and she begins to fall in love with him, although Lawrence does not realize she is Randall's fiancée. The next morning, he has an Arab escort her to the post, and when Randall persists in trying to capture the band who have kept her overnight, she dissuades him. After two weeks, Dolores still has not set a wedding date, saying that she wants to recover from the journey. When Dolores and Randall are out together in the village, they see Lawrence, and she inquires about him. Later, Dolores asks to be alone, and Randall goes to Alysha, where he lies and says he loves her. A sergeant then informs Randall that an Arab has just abducted Dolores, and he orders his soldiers to wipe out the El Rahman band for good. As Dolores waits in Lawrence's tent, fighting takes place outside. In the combat Randall dies, but not before confessing the truth about Mrs. Courtney, and Lawrence is restored as commander of the post by Matthews and Snell.