The Lost Patrol (1934)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay)
Garrett Fort (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

16 February 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | War

Tagline:

BLISTERING SUN...BLAZING BULLETS! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A dozen British soldiers, lost in a Mesopotamian desert during world war I, are menaced by unseen Arab enemies.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Sniper | Sergeant | Cavalry | Arab

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Victor McLaglen	...	The Sergeant
Boris Karloff	...	Sanders
Wallace Ford	...	Morelli
Reginald Denny	...	Brown
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Quincannon
Billy Bevan	...	Hale
Alan Hale	...	Cook
Brandon Hurst	...	Bell
Douglas Walton	...	Pearson
Sammy Stein	...	Abelson
Howard Wilson	...	Aviator
Paul Hanson	...	MacKay
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Abdullah Abbas	...	Last Arab (uncredited)
Frank Baker	...	Rescue Patrol Colonel / Arab Shot By Sergeant (uncredited)
Neville Clark	...	Lieutenant Hawkins (uncredited)
Francis Ford	...	Arab (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Dudley Nichols		(screenplay)
Garrett Fort		(adaptation)
Philip MacDonald		(story "Patrol")

Produced by
Merian C. Cooper	....	executive producer
Cliff Reid	....	associate producer
John Ford	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Harold Wenstrom		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Paul Weatherwax

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase
Sidney Ullman

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Argyle Nelson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Philip Faulkner Jr.	....	sound (as P.J. Faulkner)
Clem Portman	....	sound

Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker	....	process photography (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Louie Anderson	....	grip (uncredited)
James Lee Davis	....	grip (uncredited)

Music Department
Murray Spivack	....	music recordist
Bernhard Kaun	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Frank Baker	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Louis Shapiro	....	utility man (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures (as Radio Pictures)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• Bio-Kuva (1936) (Finland) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (edited)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (edited)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1967) (Finland) (TV) (MTV2)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1978) (Finland) (TV) (2002) (TV2)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1988) (USA) (video)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Odeon Entertainment (2012) (UK) (DVD)
• Pan Vision Oy (2003) (Finland) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:73 min (original release) | USA:66 min (1954 reissue length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1345-R, re-release) | UK:A (original rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Buttercup Dunes, Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Victor McLaglen, who plays The Sergeant, is the brother of Cyril McLaglen, who played The Sergeant in the earlier 1929 version of this film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As the plane is circling the encampment, you can see tire marks in the sand.

Quotes:

Sanders:Brown, you're a gentleman! You've got breeding! You must have faith!
Brown:Why?
Sanders:Why? Why in Heaven's name, man, what do you believe in?
Brown:Would it really interest you? Oh, a lot of things. A good horse, steak and kidney pudding, a fellow named George Brown, the asinine futility of this war, being frightened, being drunk enough to be brave and brave enough to be drunk, the feel of the sea when you swim, the taste and strength of wine, the loveliness of women, the splendid, unspeakable joy of killing Arabs, the smell of incense and bacon, the weight of a fist, an old pair of shoes, a toothache, triunph...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Searchers (1956)

Soundtrack:

Auld Lang Syne

KARLOFF IS A BIBLE FANATIC!

Learned that this film was shot entirely on location near Yuma, Arizona with temperatures over 110 degrees. The music was created by Max Steiner and was nominated for an Oscar. This picture was also a remake of an earlier English film in 1929 of the novel. I also noticed there was not a woman in the cast, and no wonder, with all that heat during takes! During the First WW1, a patrol of British cavalrymen find themselves stranded in the Mesopotamian Desert. A veteran sergeant (Victor McLaglen) is in command. They camp at an oasis, and Arabs kill a sentry and steal their horses. It seems they are surrounded by unseen enemies and are killed one by one. The three remaining soldiers are: Morelli (Wallace Ford), the sergeant(McLaglen) and Sanders(Boris Karloff), a religious nut! Karloff goes insane, and creates a makeshift cross and starts across the desert. Karloff as usual has bulging eyes and tormented facial expressions. Boris made this film another great classic. It is a worthwhile enjoyable film to view.