Beau Geste

source: Beau Geste

A very frequently remade film. Usually with minor tweaks to the story. The first version that I could find was the silent from 1926, with ron colman. That one says based on the novel by percy wren, who lived from 1875 to 1941. The 1966 version has a 1906 storyline, with two brothers (guy stockwell, doug mcclure) joining the foreign legion in the sahara desert. They serve under major dagineau and lieutenant deruse (telly savalas, leslie nielsen). Dagineau has a rep as a badass, who drives the men without mercy, and is hated for it. But does that anger and tension serve another purpose ? War in the desert.... directed by doug heyes, who did mostly television work.

I think this was the third adaptation of the "Beau Geste" story. It looks gorgeous in colour, the desert, the uniforms, the Arabian props, all lend credence to the traditional romantic image of the French Foreign Legion as the story captures. But what this version is seriously lacking is adequate direction and writing. Stockwell in the lead is very wooden as a result. Savalas runs riot, comes across as caricature by times, while Leslie Nielsen ends up giving the best and most believable performance (not something you would equate Nielsen with - a serious performance). The script is very bare and the drama uninspired as a result. We are left with all these great sets and potential, and with the poor directing we end up looking at skirmishes that would have looked more at home in a western from the previous decade. It all becomes very irritating and boring by the end. If one is looking for the best French Foreign Legion film set in the North African deserts I would highly recommend "March or Die" starring Gene Hackman instead.

This third film version of Beau Geste has its place in film history though it can't be compared to the star versions with Ronald Colman in 1927 and Gary Cooper in 1939. No big box office names are in this film just journeyman players who know their trade. The third brother was dropped as well as the entire story line about just why the brothers are in the French Foreign Legion. Guy Stockwell goes first and winds up in a post where the ultra-sadistic Sergeant Major Telly Savalas holds sway. Later on Stockwell's brother Doug McClure joins him and they are unsuccessful in hiding the fact they are brothers. We never do know exactly why the brothers or at least Stockwell is in the Legion as McClure is ostensibly along for the ride. There are some cryptic hints in some of the conversation. The last stand with troop at Fort Zinderneuf follows along the paths laid out by the more classic versions of Beau Geste. One interesting part is that of David Mauro playing Boldini the snitch among the men to Savalas. There are some definite homoerotic overtones in his performance and watch Mauro's scenes with Savalas. Remember there are no women to be had anywhere near where these guys are stationed. So a guy like Boldini might be popular in some quarters even if he's an informer. Of course there was a satirical remake in the next decade of Beau Geste with Michael York, Marty Feldman, and Peter Ustinov. It could probably use another version, it certainly is overdue. I'm surprised Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt never took up the story.

Having never read the book or seen any of the earlier versions, I have to admit being pleasantly surprised with this, the third version of the famous tale. It can't really be said to boast an A-list cast, though Telly Savalas arguably dominates most scenes as the sadistic Dagineau. This time the ostensible lead Guy Stockwell, gets to play a much more personable and loyal brother than the one he plays in his earlier War Lord, where his screen brother is the regularly heroic Charlton Heston. What impressed me was how good the film looks and how convincing a substitute Arizona and a Universal backlot is for the Sahara. Sorry, but after appreciating the vivid technicolours in this film, I don't think anyone could convince me (as many of the other reviewers here try to do so), that the earlier black and white versions (with the 1926 version being silent for goodness sake) are more enjoyable watching. The other thing that I found unexpectedly good were the handling of the battle scenes primarily in the second half of the film. For a 1966 movie, they are quite realistic, suspenseful and intense, with some liberally spilt blood thrown in for good measure. Your time won't be wasted spending a couple of hours with Beau Geste.

Sorry to be the apple of discord here, but being a fan of the book (which I've read time and time again throughout the years), I cannot like this film. As an adventure film coincidentally named like the book, maybe. But that's it. The beautiful story of courage and honor (when such things still existed and came before self), which is the essence of the story, is sadly missing. As others said, Savalas is great as Lejaunne. The rest of the acting is sort of pedestrian. If you want to see yet another film about hardships in army life and fighting, please yourself. If you want to do yourself a favor, read the book.

This qualifies as a tolerable "time-killer" largely because it's the kind of movie which, alas, Hollywood hardly ever makes anymore, but it pales in comparison to the 1939 version with Gary Cooper or the 1926 version with Ronald Colman. Guy Stockwell and Doug McClure play brothers, (the third one having been deleted from the story), and while both are agreeable actors, they seem too "modern" and "American" for this kind of period piece. (It's set in 1906.) However, these two good-looking and athletic actors fit nicely into the movie's blatant and unapologetic penchant for "beefcake in bondage." McClure, stripped to the waist, is punished by being locked into a sweat-box, and boy does he sweat, while Stockwell, also stripped to the waist, suffers a flogging -- which ranks 85th in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in then Movies" -- as well as a punishment which has him buried to the neck in the sun-scorched sand. (Just one year later, Stockwell and McClure were re-teamed for "The King's Pirate." In that movie, McClure was the one who got to feel the sting of a whip across his bare back.) Telly Savales is given free rein to snarl and glower but he's almost too well-cast as the villainous sergeant. The ending borders on the laughable with its high fatality rate for actors entirely dependent on their rank in the movie's official billing.

Leslie Nielsen, in one of his few serious actor parts, dies off too quickly in this color extravaganza, leaving Telly to rampage and wreak sadistic treatment on those under his command. Dean Stockwell and Doug McClure, "Americans", try to do their parts well, but, they just didn't strike me as the best choices, at the time, for their roles. The color treatment, uniforms, and action sequences are reminiscent of other blazing gun battle scene loaded movies, but nothing sterling or Oscar-winning here, except, maybe, Savalas, as the contemptible despot. Movie length could also have been better, too much was left out, even for an adapted story from Hollywood. Still, I would like to see this again in widescreen DVD, or even VHS. But, where would I find a good original copy ? It seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth, if it ever existed at all !

This one always used to appeared in the TV Guide as "a surprisingly good version". That's understandable, given the casting of Telly Savalas and Doug McClure. It's easy to dismiss it outright based on their reputations, but this movie was made when both were doing movies, before their TV careers, well before Telly started sucking lollipops and saying "who loves ya, baby?", and before Doug's string of truly awful B (or C) movies. Guy Stockwell is fine as the stalwart elder brother, and Leslie Neilsen a surprise as the drunken commanding officer. The plot is straightforward and serviceable, the action is exciting, the set pieces and themes well handled. I saw this movie first as a young man, and was taken by the action. I saw it again when I was a little older, and came to appreciate Telly Savalas' performance (indeed, it's about the only performance from him that I liked). I would watch it any time it was on. I tried the original, 1939 version, but found it too slow and talky for my tastes, like a great many old classics. Having never read the book, I was unoffended by the changes made to the story line. On its own merits, it's a good actioner. I admit I played "Beau Geste" with my Airfix soldiers in the sandbox, pitting the Bedouins against the Legionaries. It was one of those movies that left an indelible impact on my young mind. I wish it would get more consideration than it gets, because I would like for it to come on once in a while still, or be made available on VHS, if not DVD.

Very odd that, as of this date, this very watchable film was never released on tape or DVD, despite other Universal films from the same time period being released directly by Universal or licensed to other companies, particularly Good Times. There's a great supporting cast of mostly actors more familiar from television than from films, so one gets the impression that it's more of a made-for-TV film rather than a theatrical release; however, the action and scope is much larger than the TV movie fare of that time. The film has two nice battle scenes, one occurring at the mid-way point, and the extended climatic siege. It's a little jarring to deal with the constant shifting from the interior filmed fort scenes to the exterior filmed scenes of the Tauregs attacking, but that's my only complaint. The battle itself is well staged and exciting. It's interesting to note that Dougles Heyes, the director, used this same exact story regarding the letter threat against Dagineau in one of the episodes of "Rin-tin-tin" which he directed in the fifties. There, the threat was against Lt. Masters, who a trooper believed caused his brother's death in an Indian battle and wanted Masters to pay. Considering that RTT was a Columbia product and this Beau Geste was Universal, it's surprising some kind of copyright infringement was not noted. All-in-all, this is the kind of film that stands up to repeated viewings if one allows some time to pass in between.