La ley del harem

Al-Hadi, an Arabian prince, returns from a successful hunt only to learn that a caravan has been ambushed by his traditional enemies, the Kababish. Al-Hadi and his warriors ride out after the bandits and discover, hidden in the ruins of the caravan, Renée Duval, a Frenchwoman who had been on her way to Venice via her yacht on the Red Sea. Al-Hadi captures the bandit chieftain and orders that Renée be escorted to a nearby railroad to head for home. After Renée is taken away, the bandit's head is chopped off, but not before the appropriate prayers are said. Al-Hadi returns to his harem, where Fátima, a concubine, tries to charm him. He is cold, however, and not even a pillow fight between the concubines and the eunuchs cheers him up. Fátima's father, Grand Vizier Hassan, wants Al-Hadi and Fátima to wed so that he can increase his own personal power. Hassan convinces the local holy man, the Muezzin, to suggest the marriage to Al-Hadi, but the prince replies that he first has a long journey to make. He goes to a party in Venice, where Renée's boyfriend, Fredy Clavering, presses her to marry him. Fredy becomes perturbed at the attention Renée showers on the dashing prince. Renée and Al-Hadi take a gondola ride, and they kiss after the prince serenades her. The two then elope to Paris, where they are married. There they enjoy the life of the rich, until Al-Hadi becomes sick of European ways and, despite her resistance, takes Renée back to his kingdom. During the next six months, Renée is miserable and uncooperative, while Hassan and the Muezzin try to convince Al-Hadi to get rid of her and take Fátima as his wife. When Al-Hadi refuses, Fátima wants to kill Renée with a dagger, but her father comes up with a scheme to solve the problem. He convinces Renée that she is in great danger and provides her with a guide, money, and horses to get away. Hassan then shoots the guide and, after he has Renée captured, accuses her of theft. Al-Hadi believes the charge and imprisons her until she tells who helped her attempt the escape. After Hassan quotes an ancient law, "The woman who has abandoned her husband's household shall be condemned to death by torture," Renée is sentenced to die at dawn. Al-Hadi then denounces the law, and he is seized as a traitor. He fights his captors, then jumps through a window, takes a horse and rides off into the desert. Finding a tribe of his nomadic followers, Al-Hadi convinces them to aid him in rescuing Renée. Hassan has a brazier of hot coals placed in her cell and promises to begin the torture in one hour. Al-Hadi and his men then burst into the city and fight their way toward the prison. Just as Hassan is about to brand Renée with a hot iron, Al-Hadi crashes through the door and shoots the villain dead. The couple escape back into the desert, where Al-Hadi acknowledges that he has been mistreating Renée and offers to let her go home alone. She refuses and they agree to find a distant land where they can both be happy together.