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 , among others) of British cavalrymen lost in the desert are shot by the Arabs (Francis Ford , John Ford's older brother , appears in an uncredited role as an Arab) , one by one and twelve battered fighting men battle it out to the finish . Dead the commander officer they are subsequently commanded by the sergeant (Victor McLagen) , then arise boiling passions in the burning sands .
The movie 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 main producer Cliff Red . The picture was shot for two weeks (1933) in Yuma desert which represented Mesopotamian desert (Modern Iraq) . The temperature on the Yuma locations could be as hot as 150 degrees and actors were limited to working two hours a day . Philip McDonald (novel's author being based the movie) had been recruited in the British cavalry during WWI (1917) and he then wrote an intrigue and suspense tale , adding his war memories . Furthermore , Andrew McLaglen actually served with the Irish Fusiliers in Mesopotamia during World War I at the same time this story took place . Max Steiner's musical score was Academy Award nominated, and this classic composer re-used the main title music he wrote for this film for the main title music for Casablanca , albeit with a slightly different instrumentation and tempo . Magnificent direction by the master John Ford and excellent interpretations make this a very good film . Subsequently remade and reworked several times : ¨Sahara¨ (by Zoltan Korda) with scenarios in Libya desert ; ¨Bataan¨(Tay Garnett) in Philippines jungle ; ¨Last of Comanches¨ (Andre De Toth) in Califonia desert ; and even part of ¨Flight of Phoenix¨ (Robert Aldrich) in Sahara desert . The motion picture will appeal to cinema classics moviegoers .
