Rogues' Regiment (1948)

A post World War 2, US Army agent is assigned to join the Foreign Legion in search of high ranking Nazi war criminal who may have also enlisted.

Director:

Robert Florey

Writers:

Robert Buckner (story), Robert Florey (story),

Stars:

Dick Powell, Märta Torén, Vincent Price

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dick Powell	...	Whit Corbett
Märta Torén	...	Lili Maubert
Vincent Price	...	Mark Van Ratten
Stephen McNally	...	Carl Reicher
Edgar Barrier	...	Colonel Mauclaire
Henry Rowland	...	Erich Otto Heindorf
Carol Thurston	...	Li-Ho-Kay
James Millican	...	Cobb
Richard Loo	...	Kao Pang
Philip Ahn	...	Tran Duy Gian
Richard Fraser	...	Rycroft
Otto Reichow	...	Stein
Kenny Washington	...	Sam Latch
Dennis Dengate	...	O'Hara
Frank Conroy	...	Colonel Lemercier

Storyline

After World War II, ex-soldiers trickle into French Saigon to join the Foreign Legion, among them American Whit Corbett and German Carl Reicher. Is Reicher really SS war criminal Martin Bruner, and is Corbett after him? Art dealer Van Ratten and nightclub chanteuse Lili Maubert are also more than they seem. Action scenes include anti-guerilla jungle warfare.

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Plot Keywords:

american | nightclub | saigon | war crime | foreign legion | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Mann ohne Gesicht

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Screen Director's Playhouse" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 17, 1951 with Dick Powell reprising his film role.

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Quotes

Whit Corbett: Ah, you're much too smart for a beautiful girl. Don't you have any fun at all?
Lili Maubert: Perhaps. In a quiet way.
Whit Corbett: I can be very quiet.
Lili Maubert: Good.
[hands him his hat]
Lili Maubert: Then you won't make any noise on the way out.

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Soundtracks

"WHO CAN TELL"
Written by Serge Walter
Lyrics Jack Brooks
Performed by Märta Torén (dubbed by Martha Mears)

User Reviews

Good action film depicting the Foreign Legion in Indochina

One of the few Foreign Legion films that takes the Legion out of the desert. The Legion was instrumental in the conquest of Indochina in the 1880s, and fought a bloody, futile war in a vain attempt to retain it, from 1946-54. In the late 40s, the French government prohibited sending conscripts to serve in Indochina, so the Foreign Legion was greatly expanded. A major falsehood presented by the film is the great effort made by former SS enlistees to conceal their past, since the French were said to execute any they discovered. The reverse was in fact true, and the French actively (though covertly) sought out and recruited former Wehrmacht and SS men. For the first time in the Legion's history, large enlistment bonuses were paid and former officers and senior noncoms were advanced to sergeant upon completion of training and a short probation period. Jobs were hard to come by in postwar Germany, and the French eagerly made use of this large pool of disciplined, fully trained professional killers. Just the thing for a dirty, distant, unpopular war.

Dick Powell joins the Legion to find a wanted SS war criminal. Despite the above, most of the movie is quite realistic and fast moving. There are good action, and even training sequences, and the atmosphere is appropriately gritty and depressing. The legionnaires are depicted with American M1 rifles. This was accurate in the early part of the war. Ironically, these were later replaced by inferior and obsolete French equipment.

An interesting mix of war movie and film noir done reasonably well.