Beau Geste joins the Foreign Legion to escape the authorities and becomes a man that his fellow soldiers look up to, because of his leader-like qualities and his ability to stand up for himself. The tyrant Sargent Major Dagineau receives an unnamed threatening death letter by one of his men, so he treats everyone with the same intent, until the men rat the culprit out. Naturally he believes it to be Geste, but he wants proof before he does anything and make his life hard-going. So he must face overwhelmingly crafty Arabs, but also his major Sargent. Soon his brother finds where he's at and joins him, as they stand-off at a garrison against their enemies with little hope of surviving.
This coloured entry is more so an action-orientated and to-the-point venture, then that of the "1928" and "1939" versions of Percival Christopher Wren's novel. The story and it's groundwork comes off second best, as it goes ahead by making some changes and also leaving segments out. Everything is played out in the desert with the stressful and violent Foreign Legion input winning out. The tightly strapping screenplay (written by Douglas Heyes) draws up the notion "you'll get respect for what you're good at and that won't be taken away, for who you are". It begins with the ending, then the narrative falls into recount flashback of what had happened. The whole reason why Beau is there is kept quite cloudy and never given much insight when its brought up. This is because of a new plot device (the letter), which can rally up interest and throw a real curve ball. The impulsive action spurts have that excitingly dirty and grim touch about it, but a hopelessly jarring air of doom is effectively generated from this situation. Douglas Heyes' sure-footed direction is nicely judged and the pacing passes by in no time. On show is a strong supporting cast. Telly Savales is mercilessly left off the leash with his larger than life Sargent Major Dagineau. Who constantly enjoys breaking down his men. A stoic Leslie Nielsen is impressive in his small part as the mostly drunk, but proud Lieutenant De Ruse. Making up the solid support cast is Leo Gordon, David Mauro, Robert Wolders, Michael Constantine, Malachi Throne and so on. A smoothly good Guy Stockwell is acceptably hard as nails as Beau Geste and Doug McClure provides colour to his ace portrayal of Beau's brother John. The set-production is workably vintage and costumes are convincingly drummed up. The effulgent cinematography is executed with many potent angle shots and the persistently rapid music score is fitting to the air.
A totally different interpretation and style on the material, but still makes for a riveting viewing because of some noticeable performances and well-constructed action scenes.
This coloured entry is more so an action-orientated and to-the-point venture, then that of the "1928" and "1939" versions of Percival Christopher Wren's novel. The story and it's groundwork comes off second best, as it goes ahead by making some changes and also leaving segments out. Everything is played out in the desert with the stressful and violent Foreign Legion input winning out. The tightly strapping screenplay (written by Douglas Heyes) draws up the notion "you'll get respect for what you're good at and that won't be taken away, for who you are". It begins with the ending, then the narrative falls into recount flashback of what had happened. The whole reason why Beau is there is kept quite cloudy and never given much insight when its brought up. This is because of a new plot device (the letter), which can rally up interest and throw a real curve ball. The impulsive action spurts have that excitingly dirty and grim touch about it, but a hopelessly jarring air of doom is effectively generated from this situation. Douglas Heyes' sure-footed direction is nicely judged and the pacing passes by in no time. On show is a strong supporting cast. Telly Savales is mercilessly left off the leash with his larger than life Sargent Major Dagineau. Who constantly enjoys breaking down his men. A stoic Leslie Nielsen is impressive in his small part as the mostly drunk, but proud Lieutenant De Ruse. Making up the solid support cast is Leo Gordon, David Mauro, Robert Wolders, Michael Constantine, Malachi Throne and so on. A smoothly good Guy Stockwell is acceptably hard as nails as Beau Geste and Doug McClure provides colour to his ace portrayal of Beau's brother John. The set-production is workably vintage and costumes are convincingly drummed up. The effulgent cinematography is executed with many potent angle shots and the persistently rapid music score is fitting to the air.
A totally different interpretation and style on the material, but still makes for a riveting viewing because of some noticeable performances and well-constructed action scenes.