updated: 08/06/2005
Pearl Chavez (Jennifer Jones) was marked for trouble: a half-breed Indian girl (I use that phrase deliberately reflecting both the contemporary labelling and its associated baggage); an adulterous mother – shot by her father; her father hanged for the crime. She is sent to live with distant relatives and becomes involved in a love triangle with their two sons: a violent end ensues. Critics snubbed the film as lust in the dust but audiences flocked to see the sultry Pearl.
A few years later Jennifer Jones donned yellowface to play Eurasian Dr Han Suyin in Love Is A Many Splendored Thing – another doomed and forbidden romance.
Full body makeup was used to give Pearl her dark complexion as can be seen in the image with Lillian Gish. I dont have the makeup credits for this movie: if anyone knows, please email me.