Road to Romance on AllMovie

The Road to Romance is a heavily Hollywoodized adaptation of the Joseph Conrad/Ford Maddox Ford novel Romance (which served as the film's title in Great Britain). Ramon Novarro stars as Jose Armando, a Spanish dragoon captain who goes undercover to save the fair Seranida (Marceline Day) from a forced marriage to corrupt judge Don Balthasar (Roy D'Arcy). Posing as a buccaneer, Jose travels to a lawless Caribbean island, where he is able to wander amongst the villains with impunity, biding his time until his final assault on Balthasar's stronghold. Just as the judge is about to have his way with the girl, Jose reveals his true colors, setting the stage for a grand-scale swashbuckling conclusion. The casting of Ramon Novarro necessitated the changing of Conrad and Ford's English-aristocrat hero into a high-born Spaniard.