Beau Geste (1939)

Last night, upon receiving a mail order, borderline watchable DVD, I played the silent version of Beau Geste starring Ronald Colman. The 1939 version is not a scene-by-scene remake, but it is darn close. Where there are notable differences they are for the better. But I heartily recommend the 1926 film to those who love the Cooper-Milland-Donleavy version and are willing to pay for a crappy transfer. (Why there are so many great movies that have never been released in a cleaned-up DVD version beats me).I'll blame shelling out for a sub-par, silent version on my dad. I was blessed to have a father who loved movies. Dad's gone now. But his encouragement and never-ending desire to turn me on to the films he loved as a kid lives on in me. So many great movies together on the couch in the era of four channel television.Some of dad's favorites, "The Thief of Bagdad," "Trail of the Lonesome Pine," "Gunga Din," and "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" to name a few, are now my own. As for "Beau Geste," I've lost count of how many times I have watched it. I seem to recall my first viewing. The set of foreign legion toy soldiers that followed. My pal next door had a sand box. Soon we were building our own Fort Zinderneuf and waging mock battles.Sappy, huh. Well that's okay. It's hard to embrace old movies without a little sap. But there's more to it than just nostalgia. As a child, I loved this movie for the adventure, the action, and what may be the most drop-dead eerie beginning in film history. Fifty years later, the love between brothers (I have three), between an adoptive parent and her children,and between lovers separated by time, distance, and moral dilemma are new reasons I will be screening the 1939 version this evening (not to mention one of the most odious screen villains).There will be several times when I "well up." The opening quote from Kayam (or the Koran) is a slam dunk. The first viking funeral not so much, though it use to tear me up as a child. The death of Beau. The second death second funeral, and the reading of his letter.If you've made it this far without an insulin shot, and are under the age of forty, I challenge you to come up with films made since 1980 that you feel will have this kind of hold on you when you're sixty. If you're having trouble thinking of any, I suggest you investigate some of the classics of the '30's and '40's. Hell, even a silent flick or two. How else are you going to pass the lasting beauty of film down to your children? Some closing observations in comparing the silent version and first remake of "Beau Geste:" (1) Wow what a difference a soundtrack makes! I'm talking orchestration not dialogue, the silent DVD version I now own having a typical, and possibly original, score. I can hear that awesomely spooky and provocative music from the '39 film and I have yet to put the DVD in! Then again, think of your favorite films, then try to identify one with a score you don't find incredible! 2) Watching Ronald Colman act, I started to believe I was actually hearing him! Kinda like a foreign language film where halfway in you think you now know the language. That remarkable "Prisoner of Zenda" voice spoke to me. But had I not known Colman, would his performance have seemed so powerful? I'll never know.(3) Victor McLaglen plays one of the American legionnaires. Small role notwithstanding, I kept seeing him as one of the sergeants in "Gunga Din." Same mischievous grin and infectious laughter you could only imagine. Same happy-go-lucky Irishman though younger and thinner.

Three brothers join the Foreign Legion following the mysterious disappearance of a valuable sapphire.This movie came out the same year (1939) as that other masterpiece of colonial adventure, The Four Feathers. Both make first-rate use of family bonds and family honor to create a strong emotional context to all the colorful combat. Those bonds really work here, establishing a strong sense of one for all and all for one. Plus the fact that the brothers have been adopted by the kindly Lady Brandon (Thatcher) not only lends poignancy, but makes the central twist work really well.As good as Cooper-Milland-Foster are, it's really Donlevy's movie. His cruel martinet has stayed with me over the decades—the military haircut, the perfectly squared shoulders, the command voice. He not only commands his legionnaires, he commands the movie, as well. And, when he falls, I still have mixed emotions, despite his many acts of cruelty. It's a crackling good story, but it's his imposing presence that makes the adventure memorable. No wonder Donlevy was Oscar-nominated, a near-perfect blend of character and actor.Two minor reservations. Cooper's fine in Beau's role, more animated than usual. However, at nearly forty, he appears a shade too old for the youthful part. Also, I've never been able to reconcile to the relative ease with which the mutiny is put down. There's like five guys with guns facing a hundred guys who stand to be executed for their planned mutiny, yet they meekly give up, especially after Schwartz (the great Albert Dekker) has so powerfully roused them to action. To me, director Wellman's staging here is less than convincing.Nonetheless, the mix of mystery, emotion and action remains superbly entertaining, and is ironically, one of the few movies that actually lives up to its title.

First for the view: This 1939 black and white adventure yarn, not nominated for best picture (GONE WITH THE WIND and some flying monkeys beat it out) covers a type of warfare somewhat less epic than that hovering over the horizon of GWTW. Muslim tacticians throw somewhat predictable hordes of horse-mounted riflemen against a fort the French have built in a misguided attempt to babysit a northern African population estimated at 20 million more than a century ago. With a stolen valuable and a sadistic sergeant playing a big part in the plot, this film combines elements which would later carry movies such as FORT APACHE, THE MALTESE FALCON, and Marlon Brando's MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY by themselves. With an extended prologue featuring some of the lead characters as children providing background for later events, and a couple postscripts (the first of which is totally unnecessary and counter-productive), it is hard to rate this remake any higher than 8 of 10.Now, for the gist of the jest, with just a kernel of truth: It is too bad BEAU GESTE costumer Edith Head was not allowed to provide technicolor hoop skirts such as those seen in GWTW or Anna's THE KING AND I outfits to Isobel and perhaps a few other gratuitous females in an added ball scene. The producers still could have filmed on the cheap by pulling a reverse WIZARD OF OZ (which, oddly enough, also was nominated for Best Picture in '39); that is, instead of having just a few minutes in black & white at the beginning and end per OZ, GESTE could have bracketed its desert gray-scale middle with color.

I have seen this Old Chestnut, as they refer to old entertainment, several times. This is a terrific picture that gets better with the passage of time - mainly because it's a great movie and also because they don't make 'em like this anymore.Whatever happened to Hollywood? Can't they make a picture for adults anymore? I don't mean X types, I mean with a plot for grownups. The plot of 'Beau Geste' has been synopsized by many reviewers and needs no further rehash, but it is a classic example of "escapist entertainment" prevalent in the late 30's in which you can put your mind in neutral and just go with the storyline, however illogical. It works here. The three leads, Cooper, Milland and Preston, play off each other extremely well, and the part of Markoff had to have been Brian Donlevy's best role - never cared for him very much.I never took a film course - I just know what I like, as Justice Stewart once said. I know what movies are good...and the thief of the Blue Water is beside the point.