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American film director Harold M. Shaw directed a handful of films in South Africa during the silent era, and this adventure was one of his final overseas productions. Ushakapilla is the leader of a native tribe who has been trying to negotiate a more equitable arrangement with the white colonists who are slowly taking over his land. Finding it impossible to come to terms, Ushakapilla is plotting an uprising to take back their nation, and to finance this operation he's instructed his men to take jobs in the nearby diamond and gold mines. When the Rose of Rhodesia, a massive and valuable jewel, is stolen, police determine that the thief is Fred Winters, a disgruntled employee with the mining firm. On the run from the law, Fred gets lost in the wilderness, only to be found by Ushakapilla and his followers, who give the ailing man food and water. With the help of the natives, Fred makes it to a camp where he meets Bob Randall, an honest but unsuccessful miner with a lovely daughter, Rose. Fred is infatuated with Rose, but has a rival for her affections in Jack Morel, the principled son of a missionary who has a friendly relationship wit the natives. While Fred fails in his efforts to steal Rose away from Jack, the good man makes a powerful impression on the thief and his actions will change both of their lives. The Rose of Rhodesia was initially controversial in South Africa for its depiction of white settlers enjoying friendship with black natives, and sympathetically portraying a tribal leader bent on revolution; the film was eventually banned in South Africa, and all prints were thought to be lost until the picture was recovered and restored by the Netherlands Film Museum in 2006.