Devil Dancer on AllMovie

Hip-swinging danseuse Gilda Gray, the girl who created the late-'20s dance craze "The Shimmy," plays the provocatively underdressed title character in The Devil Dancer. Written by Alice Duer Miller, this the story of Takia (Gray), a white girl brought up in a remote oriental Lamasery. English explorer Stephen (Clive Brook) stumbles onto this "forbidden" stronghold, where he interrupts a punishment ritual wherein Sada (Anna May Wong) is being buried alive. Fascinated by Takia's dancing during the ceremony, Stephen vows to rescue the girl from her "barbaric" surroundings. This, of course, does not meet with the approval of the despotic tribal chieftain (Michael Vavich), who has his own designs on Takia. Originally directed by Al Raboch, who was replaced early on by Lynn Shores, The Devil Dancer was completed by Fred Niblo, who received sole screen credit.