Mai Wells Movies

Disappointed with the meager box-office returns from such earlier films as Patchwork Girl of Oz and His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz, the financial backers of L. Frank Baum's Oz Film Company demanded that Baum temporarily abandon the family trade and concentrate on an "adult" story. The producer/author grudgingly obliged with The Last Egyptian, an ornate costume drama based on a novel pseudonymously written by Baum. Summoned to his grandmother's deathbed, the last descendant of a royal Egyptian family is informed that his heritage has been blighted by his own father, a caddish English aristocrat who raped the hero's mother. In the manner of his ancestors, the young Egyptian exacts a terrible vengeance upon the Englishman, then willingly gives up his own life to the Gods. The Last Egyptian was successful enough to permit L. Frank Baum to return to the realm of children's fantasies without interference from the "money men." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi