Fort Alger

I watched this courtesy of the Movies4Men channel, which offers a very wide range of quality. This was middling. Set in the early 1950s, it seemed to have an early-20th-century atmosphere to it, with massed Arab attacks on Legionnaire forts and columns of soldiers marching to the rescue with no motorised or air support. There were a few mid-century cars in the stock footage of Paris and an Arab town, and Yvette does use an eavesdropping device, but that's all.

The actors do well enough, though I didn't recognise Leif Ericson as the crop-haired sergeant - he certainly chewed the scenery. And it's always good to see the dependable John Dehner (and Yvonne de Carlo).

I was a bit puzzled by the Amir calling on his troops not to mention, on pain of death, the massacre at the beginning of the film, as it would have soon become common knowledge.

The mid-film relaying of the message did go on a bit and, as has been mentioned, there was something wrong with the distance and time when the Arabs arrived at the oil well.

All in all, pleasant, predictable viewing.

It's been well over a year since I had mentioned I'd be renting this one on DVD, after being impressed with Lesley Selander's neglected low-budget horror effort THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST (1945). At the time, I had even joked about the fact that the director's filmography included six(!) pictures with the word "fort" in their title – this, of course, being one of them.

Despite the lowly rating, I enjoyed the film for what it was – a thoroughly unassuming romantic adventure. Its B-movie roots are evident in the ample stock footage (particularly during the final desert charge on an oil well – which also presents an incongruity in wardrobe, with heroes and villains dressed in outfits from different time periods!) but also the choice of leading man, Carlos Thompson: the Argentinian actor made only a handful of English-language films (none very notable, though his last film was the delightful French WWII comedy LA VIE DE Château [1966] with Catherine Deneuve) and committed suicide back home in 1990.

Anyway, FORT ALGIERS was really a vehicle for Yvonne De Carlo, who specialized in such forgettable exotic fare around this time; here, she's a French agent who had forsaken lover Thompson for 'the cause' – but meets up with him again when she's sent to spy on evil Arab potentate Raymond Burr (highly amusing in a turban). Leif Erickson delivers an unbelievably hammy performance as Thompson's arrogant sergeant – though his character is eventually softened when selected for the hero's buddy in a mission (in which Thompson has to rescue De Carlo from Burr when the girl's cover is blown); the rest of the cast includes such familiar faces as John Dehner, Anthony Caruso and Robert Warwick.

There's murky and nasty goings-on in French Africa, stirred up by tuxedo-and-turban-wearing Raymond Burr. Yvonne De Carlo is blackmailed into going undercover there, and she soon has Burr greatly interested. What -- or rather, whom -- Miss De Carlo is being blackmailed over is former Signal Corps officer Carlos Thompson, who nearly killed a superior officer, presumably over Miss De Carlo. Now he is a private in the French Foreign Legion.

Miss De Carlo is top-billed, and she gets more screen time than anyone else. She also sings a song as part of her cover. It's the sort of engaging nonsense that still filled the movie screens at this point. Supposedly this UA release was filmed in Morocco. If so, they took pains to find geographical features that are exact duplicates to those around Lone Pine, Mount Whitney, and other sites in California that any fan of cheap B westerns would recognize, as well as a derelict wooden structure that looks like something out of those same oaters. Still, it's fun to find such typical Bedouins and Rif riff-raff as John Dehner, Leif Erickson, and Robert Warwick.

Hang on to your turban and ride your magic carpet to North Africa in search of camels, cabaret and oil. Set in 1953, the English and French already have their spigots in the "open" position. Sultry Yvonne Decarlo has been recruited to spy on an Arab rebel leader who has slaughtered hundreds of French Foreign Legionnairs at a place called Fort Algiers. The shot of numerous soldiers lying motionless on the grounds is shocking. The production values are so good, I thought they might have been lifted from another film. Oddly, the set dresser leaves the walls of the cabaret and palace bare--no art or detail. Ms. Decarlo has a role that is ahead of its time. She knows how to read and send codes, ride horses, fire weapons, and detonate explosives. She can also sing and speak Arabic. She is in high demand. The writers give her a neat spy kit to employ against the mean "Amir" and his palace guards. Carlos Thompson plays the love interest of Miss Decarlo. He looks and sounds a little bit like Danny Kaye--with an accent. They make a good team. One strange angle: there appears to be very little discipline in the outfit. The men talk back to their superiors, drink and play cards much too often, and are lacking in spit and polish. On the other hand, Miss Decarlo's shirts are always crisp and clean. She should lead the charge.

This adventure movie proves that Lesley Selander was not only a western film maker. Ok, this movie is told, written and acted as a western; just replace Arabs by Indians and Foreign Legion by the US Cavalry. Remember Selander's DESERT SANDS, another French Foreign Legion film. The exotic part is present, despite a black and white photography, such a shame, especially with a superb Yvonne De Carlo in a Mata Hari like character. Raymond Burr is outstanding as the evil guy; how could it be else? This movie belongs to the French Foreign legion ones and that makes me think one more time of my grief concerning DESERT HELL, from director Charles Marquis Warren. A so rare film that no one seems to have ever seen it. The review on Imdb looks very like the copycat of a dictionnary comment.