This unexceptional adventure yarn by director Jacques Tourneur is set in the French Sudan during the beginning of World War II, when the French Foreign Legion was doing battle with the Tuaregs. In order to bring a halt to the hostilities, a powerful Muslim religious leader has to make it to Timbuktu, the center of the conflict. In the meantime, an American merchant-adventurer (Victor Mature) is helping out the French commander of the garrison at Timbuktu, and falling in love with the commander's wife (Yvonne De Carlo). Between the forbidden romance, the journey of the Muslim leader, and the angry Tuaregs, there are no dull moments even if the tension is not exactly unbearable.