Under Two Flags (1936)

Director:

Frank Lloyd

Writers:

Ouida (novel)
W.P. Lipscomb (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 May 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Tagline:

The World's Most Lovable Love-Team !

Plot:

Sergeant Victor comes to the French Foreign Legion after taking the blame for his brother's crime. Cigarette...

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Foreign Legion | Remake | Algeria | Arab

Cast

Ronald Colman	...	Sgt. Victor
Claudette Colbert	...	Cigarette
Victor McLaglen	...	J.C. Doyle
Rosalind Russell	...	Lady Venetia Cunningham
Gregory Ratoff	...	Ivan
Nigel Bruce	...	Capt. Menzies
C. Henry Gordon	...	Lt. Petaine
Herbert Mundin	...	Rake
John Carradine	...	Cafard
Lumsden Hare	...	Lord Seraph
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Col. Ferol
Onslow Stevens	...	Sidi-Ben Youssiff
Fritz Leiber	...	French Governor
Thomas Beck	...	Pierre
William Ricciardi	...	Cigarette's Father

Runtime:

112 min (copyright length) | USA:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #1977)

Filming Locations:

Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Simone Simon was to make her American screen debut in this movie in the role of Cigarette, but director Frank Lloyd demanded she be fired after two weeks of shooting because of her temperamental attitude. When she was replaced by Claudette Colbert, all Simon's footage was discarded.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Come See the Paradise (1990)

Soundtrack:

Marche Slave

Colman and Colbert shine in lackluster desert opus

There's not much plot here - for that go to THE FOUR FEATHERS and BEAU GESTE. Basically it's a quadrangle. Colman is loved by two women, the aristocratic Russell and the camp follower, Colbert. He loves only Russell, though God knows why when he has feisty Colbert. McLaglen loves Colbert and because she is in love with Colman, engineers dangerous missions for Colman, hoping he won't return from one of them. The first hour is rather dull, only establishing the love relationships. The second half is a bit more stimulating, taking place out in the desert with forced marches and Arab attacks.

Lloyd directs blandly. Colman and Colbert are wonderful in their roles, she even better than he - though Hollywood's idea of eyebrow pencilling starts about a foot above her head. See it for these two stars, not the action.