Lost Command (1966)

LOST COMMAND is something of a middling, meandering war movie of the mid '60s. For a change, the French are the heroes in this one, presided over by Anthony Quinn as a hard-bitten lieutenant colonel leading his men to glory. The film is quite unusual in that it features not one but two theatres of war, beginning with a French defeat in Indochina and following up with some frenetic action in Algeria. Veteran director Mark Robson does his best but fails to instil much life or action into the proceedings, which feel like mere globetrotting at times.

It is remarkable how few reviews this big-budget war movie has received over the years on the IMDb. It seems almost forgotten but this is totally undeserved."Lost Command" has all the makings of a big-budget epic of the sixties : a war theme, large battles and some big stars of the day : Anthony Quinn, Alain Delon and (a very sultry) Claudia Cardinale, including the director Mark Robson, fresh from his success "Von Ryan's Express". But this warmovie is a bit more difficult to categorize.Based on a novel by former French army officer and war correspondent Jean Larteguy it was made only a few years after the actual events (set in 1958 in French colonial Algeria) this somehow is Hollywood's answer to the better-known and much acclaimed European "The battle of Algiers" (1963)from director Gillo Pontecorvo which was shot in black and white, on a shoestring budget with no major stars and very left-wing."Lost Command" is almost the complete opposite : a massive budget, shot in Technicolor, big stars and a rather right-wing attitude. But here's the twist : the movie doesn't ignore the brutality on both sides including those by the French paratroopers towards the Algerian civil population, with scenes depicting the use of torture and a massacre of a peasant village (in reprisal of the brutal murder of several of their comrades). Also the terrorists aren't portrayed as all-out baddies, as their leader, an ex-para himself, is played by, wait for it, George Segal (!) in heavy brown make-up. You hardly recognize him. The restof the cast is excellent, with Anthony Quinn leading the way as the para commander and French actors Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet as his assistants. It is also historically very accurate : the Dien Bien Phu prologue, the uniforms and weapons, etc... They also face roadside bombs, suicide attacks, booby-traps in the inner city, all rather reminiscent of things to come with the US occupation of Bagdad. No wonder then that former commander of the US troops in Iraq, David Petraeus(a paratrooper himself), is an avid fan of the book (and film) from which he took ideas to support his new counter-insurgency strategy. Come to think of it, this would be a much more interesting training film to show to the US troops in Bagdad as they did indeed with "the Battle of Algiers" ! As it was made only a few years after actual events this was a bit too close for comfort for the French government so "Lost Command" was banned in France for over 10 years. Subsequent French releases vary rather in length, editing out sometimes more then 30 minutes of the original version. The French only got to see the complete version with the release of the DVD in 2003.So highly recommended viewing, as it treats its audience as adults and not mere as teenage public just looking for cheap thrills with lots of shootings and explosions.

See it – This isn't a great war movie, but it's a pretty good action movie. Anthony Quinn leads French commandoes against a band of rebels in the Algerian War for Independence. The title is a bit misleading. It's not about a group of men who have gotten "lost" behind enemy lines. It's about Quinn's character, who loses command of his unit after a campaign in Middle China, and is given one last chance in Algeria to redeem himself. Willing to do anything to complete his mission, Quinn and his men tread the path of anti-heroes. The story doesn't flow particularly well, but the action and adventure is definitely there.

Remember that Henry Fonda movie THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE ? That`s the war movie that was set in the fog shrouded snow bound forests of the Ardennes in December 1944 but for some reason the movie`s big set piece battle takes place on an arid desert plain . LOST COMMAND starts with a very similar error in geography involving the battle of Dien Bien Phu where the French built a heavily fortified base in the middle of a mountainous jungle in 1954 , except this film would have us believe that the battle took place in the middle of a desert ! But I`m more than willing to forgive this goof as LOST COMMAND is a good film , it`s maybe not a great film but if you like action adventure / war films you`ll hopefully enjoy this as much as I did and director / Producer Mark Robson should be congratulated for making a film showing the French fighting man in a good light . Say what you like about French political leaders but France does have a long noble military tradition with a glorious defeat being every bit as courageous as a glorious victory . But the screenplay doesn`t glorify conflict and rightly points out that violence breeds violence , it pits former friends against one another , and it`s always the most innocent who suffer the most