One of Theda Bara's worst vehicles (and that said a lot!), this film was ostensibly based on Rider Haggard's Jess and was an unmitigated disaster. Desperate to change her vixenish image, Bara was called upon to play a sweet young thing (she was nearly 30) who sacrifices herself for the happiness of her sister (Claire Whitney). Bara usually destroyed her on-screen sisters, and audiences were dismayed. Critics were not convinced either by Bara's downcast yet kohl-rimmed eyes, and the film was a box-office disaster. Coming on the heels of the equally unfortunate Her Greatest Love, Heart and Soul hastened the inevitable cinematic downfall of Theda Bara. For reasons now obscure, director J. Gordon Edwards set the film in Hawaii, although filming took place in the equally lush St. Augustine, Florida. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi