Der Legionär der Sahara

A Legionnaire's regiment patrols the Algerian mountains in North Africa. They are trying to locate the leader of a gang of killers, Omar Ben Kalif. As they travel along the mountains they are ambushed by Kalif' and his soldiers. Incredibly the Legionnaires become surrounded as if Kalif's men have come straight out of the mountain. Only one Legionnaire survives the ambush, Captain Lartal (Alan Ladd), but he is badly injured. He wakes for a few moments to see a beautiful woman (Arlene Dahl), who says she needs his help. He loses consciousness and later wakes to find himself being rescued by a Legionnaire patrol. He tells his story to his commanding officer, but no one will believe his tale of the beautiful woman.

Captain Lartal decides to find the mysterious woman and also get revenge on Kalif. He and a partner (Akim Tamiroff) make their way to the city. There, they meet a stranger who takes them on a journey to the mountains. The stranger takes them through a secret passage that leads to a hidden city. There Captain Lartal meets the beautiful woman. Her father, Si Khalil, rules the city with ideals of peace and brotherhood. But there is an uprising brewing within and violence is feared. Captain Lartal is asked to help stop the violent uprising. The rebel leader is Damou, a man determined to lead the city by his own values.

I thought it was a great little movie. The color is rich, the scenes beautifully shot. The score really added to my enjoyment of the film. The acting was delightful. Ladd and Conte, 40 and 43 respectively, are fit and vibrant. Dahl is extremely beautiful. And the character roles played by Tamiroff, Anthony Caruso and Oscar Beregi are top notch. It's an adventure film aimed at a younger audience and it packs a punch.

While searching in the Algerian desert for a bandit, a Foreign Legion patrol is led into an ambush. The sole survivor is Captain Lartal who, after being wounded, recovers consciousness to find someone has taken him to the gates of the Legion post.

In solving the mystery, Legionnaire Alan Ladd discovers a lost city, the beautiful Arlene Dahl and a villainous Richard Conte.

Desert Legion is a romantic desert fantasy (photographed in Technicolor) with a dreamy feel like Lost Horizion. The fabled city of Mardala is sort of a shangri-la, a place where a red-haired Beauty lives. This is quite an entertaining picture and as I have a hankering for for old-fashioned predictable outdoor action movies with a cartoon-like villain and a heroic stalwart hero amidst the desert landscape. It can be a bit too languid in pace, and needed a pick me up mid-way, but it's entertaining on the whole. There's a tense spear throwing sequence. It ends with an exciting action finale.

Desert Legion was Alan Ladd's second film after leaving his nurturing studio of Paramount. It was hoped he would get better parts by his agent and wife Sue Carol. But sad to say this was the run of film he got.

It's a typical action potboiler with Alan Ladd in the French Foreign Legion on patrol and in pursuit of a local Algerian bandit who no one can seem to locate. On patrol one day after a couple of raiders, Ladd and his patrol are surprised by reinforcements who come from out of nowhere and everyone is killed, but Ladd. He wakes up and finds desert princess Arlene Dahl nursing him back to health. The next thing he knows he's back at Legion headquarters with this wild tale of a lost city in the desert.

Ever since Universal made Arabian Nights with Jon Hall and Maria Montez they had these middle eastern sets and so you could depend year after year on one or two pictures with that setting. So on this one shot deal Alan Ladd got to do Desert Legion with those same sets.

Maureen O'Hara in her memoirs said no one thought she was more ludicrous cast in these films as a redheaded Middle Eastern princess. But I will say that Desert Legion did provide some explanation why redheaded Swede Arlene Dahl was in North Africa.

Had this film been done a decade earlier it might have made great material for a serial. It has all the ingredients and you just write a bunch cliffhanger semi-climaxes and it would have done well.

Looking like he's having a great old time is Akim Tamiroff as Ladd's sidekick who deserts with him to find this lost city. Richard Conte however just doesn't come off as an Arab.

Desert Legion is the kind of film Alan Ladd should have been done with at his stage of life and career.

The legion étrangère has always been a topic that makes people dream.Lots and lots of movies were made ,not only in France.Here,the most famous are probably Duvivier's "la bandera" and Jacques Feyder's "le grand jeu".Twas also one of Edith Piaf's favorite subjects of song (le fanion de la légion,mon légionnaire). This is a pretty ridiculous movie.At the beginning,I was thinking it was a remake of Pierre Benoit's "l'atlantide"(two most famous versions being Pabst 's (1932)with Brigitte Helm-Metropolis- ,and Edgar G Ulmer's (1963))It was certainly influenced big-time by Benoit's book.The blond officer lost in the desert who's taken in by a beautiful lady from a mysterious city of the sands,we've seen that movie before. After,Joseph Pevney and Pierre Benoit go different ways.THe director,abetted by unimaginative scriptwriters ,turn what could have been a trip into the fantastic element,à la "thief of Bagdad" or "lost horizons",into the run-of -the- mill hero-heroine-villain.The rest is so predictable :you can see where the characters are up to from a mile off."Desert Legion" fills its quota of treasons,duels,torture,and glamour.The setting is not impressive, a two-bit cardboard desert city,and for good measure,exotic dances.

Adventure movie about the Foreign legion in a remote location in North Africa , as a regiment of legionnaries under command of Paul Larval, Alan Ladd, become involved into an ambush by the nasty Omar Calif , Richard Conte .Paul is only survivor of a violent , bloody attack thanks to a gorgeous , lovely Princess , called Morjana : Arlene Dahl , in the sunny desert .Then , Paul is carried to the mysterious city of Madara. Later on , Paul returns to Tabelbala fort where he tells his fantastic story to Major Vasil , Leon Askin, but he doesn't believe him.

Entertaining Arab adventure set in the Algerian mountains where our starring Alan Ladd is wounded and healed by a beatiful Princess , gorgeous Arlene Dahl. Being freely based on a 1927 novel written by Georges Arthur Surdez titled The Demons Caravan and moving screenplay from Irving Wallace and Lewis Meltzer. It contains noisy adventures , thrills , action, romance , battles and an exciting bare chested lance-throwing competition . Alan Ladd gives an acceptable acting in his usual style as the brave legionnaire led to a hidden city and harassed by enemies . And Richard Conte who steals the show in a double nasty role as Omar Ben Calif and Crito .While Arlene Dahl is frankly wonderful and enjoyable as a mysterious princess who rescues Paul . Support cast is pretty good , such as Anthony Caruso, Leon Askin , AkimTamiroff , Oscar Berger , George J Lewis , among others .

Colorful cinematography in brilliant Technicolor , mostly shot in studios , Universal Studios City Plaza , Universal City , California and usual exteriors in Lone Pine, California . Stirring , evocative and thrilling musical score by Frank Skinner .The motion picture was professionally directed by Joseph Pevney, though it has some flaws , gaps and failures . Joseph was a good artisan , being well known as a very organized and precise filmmaker who was nonetheless relaxed on the set . He directed a lot of movies of all kinds of genres such as Wartime : Torpedo run , Away all boats , Air cadet. Adventures as Yankee Pasha , Tammy , Twilight for the God, Congo crossing ,Ring circus , Legion of desert . Western : Lady from Texas , The plunderers . Thriller : Undercover girl , Flesh and fury , Man of a thousand faces , Iron Man , Shakedown , The strange Door , 6 bridges to cross , Istanbul. Rating 6/10. Passable and decent adventure movie . The flick will appeal to Alan Ladd fans .