Both this film and the earlier hit The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) had screenplays by June Mathis, who is credited with "discovering" Rudolph Valentino. When The Great Lover died unexpectedly in 1926 and was too poor to pay for a burial plot, Mathis agreed to "lend" him the crypt intended for her husband. Nearly 100 years later, Mathis and Valentino remain interred side-by-side with her husband buried in a crypt below the two of them.
This film reunites the director Rex Ingram, star Rudolph Valentino, and screenwriter June Mathis of one of 1921's biggest box office hits, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), which included the immortal scene in which Valentino famously danced an erotic tango and became an overnight star.
Exhibitors Trade Review noted that June Mathis's scenario remained faithful to the source material except for the ending, which had been changed for the screen.
In the novel, Charles earns a fortune trading slaves in Martinique, but is seduced by the curse of gold and never returns to Eugénie. Becoming a social climber, he arranges loveless marriage of convenience to a rich woman but is held back by his dead father's debts. Even though jilted, heiress Eugénie secretly pays off Charles' debts. She agrees to a marriage of convenience for herself but demands no consummation, and inherits her husband's fortune when he dies. Childless, she lives to donate her fortune to charity.
In the novel, Charles earns a fortune trading slaves in Martinique, but is seduced by the curse of gold and never returns to Eugénie. Becoming a social climber, he arranges loveless marriage of convenience to a rich woman but is held back by his dead father's debts. Even though jilted, heiress Eugénie secretly pays off Charles' debts. She agrees to a marriage of convenience for herself but demands no consummation, and inherits her husband's fortune when he dies. Childless, she lives to donate her fortune to charity.
The Conquering Power (1921) was an attempt to recreate the chemistry of the previous year's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), reuniting director Rex Ingram, screenwriter June Mathis, actress Alice Terry and the incomparable Rudolph Valentino. While Four Horsemen had been an epic drama, The Conquering Power was conceived as a more intimate film, albeit one spiced with dashes of moral decadence and moments of cinematic bravado.
A May 14, 1921 Motion Picture News item noted that nearly all the principal cast members had previously worked with Rex Ingram on his most recent feature, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) --- most notably Alice Terry, who married Ingram shortly after the production of The Conquering Power (1921).