John Wayne and Sophia Loren star in this adventure directed by Henry Hathaway. Joe January (Wayne) is a guide hired to join Paul Bonnard (Rossano Brazzi)'s expedition into the Sahara Desert. He wants to follow in his missing father's footsteps and find the lost city his father spent his life searching for.

They are joined in their quest by Dita (Loren), a lost soul who follows them into the desert, but what they discover there will have devastating consequences for them all.