The film is based on the 1909 novel, Bella Donna, by Robert Smythe Hichens which was later adapted for a 1912 Broadway play starring Alla Nazimova.

[1][2] Bella Donna, a seductive woman snares Nigel Armine into marriage and he takes her to Egypt to live.

[citation needed] Reportedly the film played with sound provided by the De Forest Phonofilm sound-on-film process.

All or about two reels of The Covered Wagon had a music track recorded in the Phonofilm process, but was only shown this way at the premiere at the Rivoli Theater in New York City.

[3] On April 15, 1923, Lee de Forest presented a program of 18 short films made in the Phonofilm process, also at the Rivoli Theater.