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)
• 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:

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

Filming Locations:

Buttercup Dunes, Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Director John Ford's older brother Francis appears in an uncredited role.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

Brown:I can't say much for the women though, but, oh, the girls! All Malayan females should be poisoned at 21. Before that, they're... Mmmmmm!
Jock MacKay:But a bit on the dark side, hunh, Brown?
Brown:Oh, yes, they're dark, but the longer you're there, the whiter they get, or that's the way it seems. That didn't bother me, Jock. I'll never forget the first time I saw... We sailed into a little harbor about sundown. The girls all came swimming out...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Seven Samurai (1954)

Soundtrack:

It's a Long Way to Tipperary

Classic film with powerful direction by John Ford

While the WWI raged in Europe British troops were fighting in a far corner of the world . Small solitary patrols moved over the vast Mesopotamian desert that seemed on fire with the sun . The molten sky gloated over them . The endless desert wore the blank look of death . Yet these men marched on without a murmur , fighting an unseen Arab enemy who always struck in the dark . A brave group (Wallace Ford , Boris Karloff , Reginald Denny) of British cavalrymen lost in the desert are shot by the Arabs , one by one and twelve battered fighting men battle it out to the finish . Dead the official commander they are ruled by the sergeant (Victor McLagen) , then arise boiling passions in the burning sands .

Film gets brief psychological remarks about diverse character studios , especially the religious fanatic Karloff and although is completely developed on the wide desert , the tale results to be claustrophobic . Produced by RKO with a script by Dudley Nichols , usual Ford's screenwriter . Merian C.Cooper (King Kong) as executive producer intervened profoundly in this film along with principal producer Cliff Red . The picture was shot for two weeks (1933) in Yuma desert which represented Mesopotamian desert . There , Philip MCDonald (novel's author being based the movie) had been recruited in the British cavalry during WWI (1917) and he ulteriorly wrote an intrigue and suspense tale , adding his war memories . Max Steiner's musical score was nominated for Academy Award . Magnificent direction by the master John Ford and excellent interpretations make this a very good film . Subsequently remade and reworked several times : ¨Sahara¨ (Zoltan Korda) with scenarios in Lybia desert ; ¨Bataan¨(Tay Garnett) in Philippines jungle ; ¨Last of Comanches¨ (Andre De Toth) in Califonia desert ; and even part of ¨Flight of Phoenix¨ (Aldrich) in Sahara desert . The motion picture will appeal to cinema classics moviegoers.