Brigadier-general Patrick Marlow is dedicated to his wife Mary, but his devotion masks a possessive streak that can lead to violence. When he finds her seemingly having a secret rendezvous with newspaper publisher Gilbert Patton, he murders the man in cold blood. In an attempt to lessen the severity of the crime, Mary lies and tells the court she was Patton's mistress, hiding the truth that he was actually about to rape her. Believing his wife did indeed betray him, a devastated Marlow flees to South Africa to avoid the shame. Faking his death, he takes the name John Carew and becomes a diamond hunter. While en route to Africa to find out if the reports of Marlow's death are true, Mary meets and falls in love with adventurer/sportsman Anthony Walford. Once in Africa, the pair find Marlow, who is none too happy to find his wife (again) with another man. Despite this newfound rivalry, Walford agrees to accompany Marlow on a dangerous diamond expedition down the Munghana River. Realizing how much Walford loves his wife, Marlow must finally overcome his possessiveness and set Mary free but a savage native uprising may make all their desires moot...
Part complex marital drama, part jungle adventure picture, The Notorious Lady is the stylish work of actor-turned-director King Baggot. In the early teens, Baggot had been one of the first heavily publicized movie stars in America (fan magazines referred to him as "The Man Whose Face Is As Familiar As The Man In The Moon.") He is remembered for his roles in classics like The Scarlet Letter (1911), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913) and Ivanhoe (1913). Baggott's most popular work behind the camera was the William S. Hart western Tumbleweeds (1925). Leading man Lewis Stone is best known for his role as Mickey Rooney's stately father in the popular Andy Hardy film series during the talkie era. The gorgeous Barbara Bedford's career never really took off, but she nevertheless had parts in great pictures such as The Last of the Mohicans (1920), Tumbleweeds (1925), and Mockery (1927). Kameela, the full-figured jungle girl who has a crush on Stone's character, is played by ingenue Ann Rork. Her film career was mostly due to her father, First National Pictures executive Sam E. Rork (and not coincidentally, the producer of Notorious Lady.) In a few years, she would leave motion pictures to become the wife of famed oil heir J. Paul Getty and bear him two sons: John Paul Getty, Jr. and Gordon Getty.