Released in 1915, Under the Crescent—written by Nell Shipman, directed by Burton L. King, and produced by Carl Laemmle—depicted the sensational adventures of an American actress in Egypt. As its promotional materials and ads claimed, the six-part dramatic serial was based on the life of popular stage performer Ola Humphrey, who also starred in the serial.

The plot included considerable, if sometimes convoluted, foreign intrigue. An actress who is performing at an opera house in Cairo becomes the object of the infatuation of two men: Egyptian Prince Ibrahim Tousson and American Stanley Clyde. Totally smitten with the actress, the Prince ignores a vital directive from his cousin, the Khedive (viceroy of Egypt under Turkish rule), concerning a “Moslem uprising” and an impending fight to be mounted by the Ottoman Empire. Clyde, however, finds and reads the letter and rushes to share it with consul-general Sir Godfrey. But before Godfrey is able to act on the information, he is drugged by his Arab servant Mehemid Ali, who is actually a spy. Meanwhile, Tousson’s mother, disturbed by the rumors of her son’s infatuation, arranges a hasty marriage for him with his cousin, Princess Uarda. Fearful of losing his share of his mother’s estate, Tousson agrees to the wedding; but he creates a clever deception, by which the heavily-veiled bride he marries is actually the American actress.

Thrown in jail because he knows the Moslem rulers’ secret plan, Clyde finds himself in a cell adjacent to Tousson’s former sweetheart Zohra, who in a fit of jealousy had accidentally caused Uarda’s death. Upon learning that Zohra is the mother of Tousson’s child and that both she and Clyde have been sentenced to death, the former actress, now “Princess Tousson,” pleads for their release. When that fails, she creates a ruse by which she outwits the Prince, purloins the Imperial order to massacre all Christians, leaves him a prisoner in his own house, and rescues Clyde and Zohra in a dramatic getaway that initiates a pattern of escape-and-chase scenes that continues throughout the serial.

After the Princess, Clyde, Zohra, and her baby (whom a frenzied mob at the mosque had intended to sacrifice) take refuge in a pyramid, Prince Tousson attempts once again to reclaim the official documents, without which the Christian massacre cannot occur. Given twenty-four hours by the Khedive to retrieve them, he and his spies track down the fugitives. As Clyde bravely tries to hold off the Prince’s men, the Princess hides in the coffin of an ancient queen but is betrayed by her own veil, which gets caught in the coffin lid and reveals her hiding place. The documents are ripped away from her and delivered to the Said Pasha, who decrees the death of the infidels. Meanwhile, with the Princess and Zohra once again in his power and Clyde again his prisoner, Tousson begins the journey back across the desert.

When a desert sandstorm suddenly erupts. Tousson seizes the opportunity to dispose of his unwelcome heir. The child is found by a band of Bedouins, who recognize the amulet around his neck as belonging to Zohra, who turns out to be the daughter of the band’s leader Rasaid. In accordance with the Moslem idea of honor, Rasaid decides to pursue and kill the daughter who has dishonored him. But discovering her in the Prince’s palace, driven mad by the loss of her infant, he spares her his vengeance (madness being sacred to Mohammedans) and redirects his wrath toward the Prince. Despite several frightening encounters involving trap doors and a leopard called the “Little Executioner,” both Clyde and the Princess escape, just in time, along with Zohra and her father.

Apart from her stage work, Humphrey is best remembered today for her brief marriage to the wealthy Egyptian diplomat Ibrahim Hassan, which purportedly served as the basis for the serial. That marriage was brief; unhappy with Egypt’s cultural restrictions, “Princess Hassan”—the name by which Humphrey became known in society circles—soon sought a divorce from her husband, which he denied, in part to prevent the large settlement she demanded for relinquishing her title. But before that issue was resolved, the Prince died, and she became his lawful widow and inherited his large fortune. Director Burton L. King fared much better in the industry; a former actor, he went on to direct and produce films well into the 1930s, spanning both silent and sound eras. And the serial’s Canadian-born screenwriter Nell Shipman, an actress, author, writer, producer, director, and animal trainer who had earned the title of “The First Lady of Canadian Cinema,” enjoyed a long Hollywood film career as well. After moving with her then-husband Ernest Shipman to the United States, she began appearing in films for Universal, Selig, and Vitagraph and later also directed and produced. Preferring to work independently, however, she founded two producing companies that usually based their plots on her stories and novels and included some of the animals from her own zoo.

Under the Crescent, which is thought to be lost, remains of interest to film buffs because of its unusual subject, exotic characters, and wild animals.