As described in a review in a film magazine,[2] a boat approaching Italy is set upon by pirates and Baldassaro, a noted scholar, gives his adopted son Tito a ring that will be a passport with all men of learning.

Accidentally he aids Bardi, a blind man and noted scholar and is received with honors, finally winning consent to his marriage to his daughter Romola who loves Carlo, an artist.

Examples of such films included The Christian (London: 1923), The Bright Shawl (Cuba: 1923), The Eternal City (Italy: 1923), Madame Sans-Gêne (France: 1925), The Four Feathers (Tanzania and Sudan: 1929) and White Shadows in the South Seas (Marquesas, Tahiti: 1928).

Because no one in the company spoke Italian, the quest to obtain tights for Powell and Colman culminated in a two-week detour to Milan to a theatrical tailor for La Scala Opera House.

[3] Biographer and film critic Edward Wagenknecht reports that Romola did poorly at the box office due to its lack of “melodramatic appeal.”[4] The lackluster response among movie-goer reflected the failure of the filmmakers to endow Gish’s role with dramatic intensity.