Originally titled Les Noces de Sable, Daughter of the Sands was written by
Jean Cocteau, who surprisingly did not also direct. Told almost completely in pantomime, the film is a modernization of the Tristan and Isolde legend (Cocteau was quite fond of making classical allusions, both subtle and obvious, in his films). Denise Ciardi plays a girl of humble birth who falls in love with Larbi Tounsi, the son of a powerful sheik. Overcoming great odds, the girl and the prince are brought together through the machinations of her guardian Itto Bent Lahsen, who plays a character appropriately named "The Mad Woman." Unfortunately, by the time the woman unites the couple, they've already passed over into another world. A mystical coda caps this very odd film, which never settles very long on any one mood or cinematic style. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide