“Based on a novel by Joseph Hergesheimer, also the author of Tol’Able David, brought to the screen in 1921 by Henry King (and earlier by Griffith), the film belongs to the youthful period of production by King Vidor. Vidor began his career as a cinematographer in 1913 filming a storm with a friend of his, and broke into feature films in 1919. Considering that in addition to Wild Oranges, the twenty-eight year old director worked on four other films in 1924, it is surprising to note the refinement and attention to detail that characterize Vidor’s production of this film.

The plot, halfway between exotic melodrama and adventure film, is rather conventional and predictable, but it has the advantage of a well-developed screenplay (the adaption of which was written by the director himself) and characterizations which are not commonplace.

King Vidor laces the film with shots of landscapes or animals not directly related to the action – wild oranges, the detailed close-up of a spider on its web – in order to wisely create the right atmosphere. Along the same lines it is important to note the frequent allusions to olfactory or sound events that occur during the course of the film. For example, the wild oranges which give the name to the film , evoked by the subtitles (“A disturbing perfume of oranges spread across those calm islands”), the close-ups of a barking dog, the details of banging shutters, the rocking chair which moves in a sinister manner.

(Alberto Boschi, Cinegrafie, n.7)