La pattuglia sperduta

The Lost Patrol (1934)

A John Ford war movie five years before his breakthrough movie, "Stagecoach," is interesting at least in relation to his career. So I watched this (on Warner Archive Instant).

And his lifelong themes are here—men in the wilds facing their weaknesses. His war films and westerns all have qualities of machismo, for sure, but they aren't just masculine adventure flicks. That's what makes even something like this minor effort stand up over time. When two of these men, after seeing their fellow soldiers die one by one, sit and smoke a pair of cigarettes and talk about themselves and their lives and their halted dreams, you have the depths of the movie. And of John Ford.

The plot is a contrivance—a British WWI patrol gets lost in an Arabian desert with hostile fire around them. As each of the dozen or so men dies, either from standing up at the wrong time, making a run for it, or just losing their mind in the heat, you zero in on the few that remain. And on the idea of survival. But none of this is particularly realistic. In fact, most of the film is supposed to be a night and it's bright as noon.

But Ford must have known it was a fable he was laying out, and he knew as well the realism he needed in the interactions between the men, all ordinary fellows. Except for one religious nut played with believable excess by Boris Karloff, and he also is a symbol of what their options are.

And so it steadily dwindles on, the men and the film, honing down to the final moments of desperation. And then a big sudden end which feels about right. That's what is odd, somehow—the actions of the main characters become more and more realistic as they get more extreme.

For those interested in Ford's famous blocking out of how his movies are shot, this is a decent example. Because most of it was shot on this oasis set, he could control within these confines the angles and the use of space of confinement well. Which is partly what the movie is about, too, thinking about either escape or entrapment and death. Not a great movie, but with an aura of greatness here and there and in the overview.

While the WWI raged in Europe British troops were fighting in a far corner of the world . Small solitary patrols moved over the vast Mesopotamian desert that seemed on fire with the sun . The molten sky gloated over them . The endless desert wore the blank look of death . Yet these men marched on without a murmur , fighting an unseen Arab enemy who always struck in the dark . A brave group (Wallace Ford , Boris Karloff , Reginald Denny , among others) of British cavalrymen lost in the desert are shot by the Arabs (Francis Ford , John Ford's older brother , appears in an uncredited role as an Arab) , one by one and twelve battered fighting men battle it out to the finish . Dead the commander officer they are subsequently commanded by the sergeant (Victor McLagen) , then arise boiling passions in the burning sands .

The movie gets brief psychological remarks about diverse character studios , especially the religious fanatic Karloff and although is completely developed on the wide desert , the tale results to be claustrophobic . Produced by RKO with a script by Dudley Nichols , usual Ford's screenwriter . Merian C.Cooper (King Kong) as executive producer intervened profoundly in this film along with main producer Cliff Red . The picture was shot for two weeks (1933) in Yuma desert which represented Mesopotamian desert (Modern Iraq) . The temperature on the Yuma locations could be as hot as 150 degrees and actors were limited to working two hours a day . Philip McDonald (novel's author being based the movie) had been recruited in the British cavalry during WWI (1917) and he then wrote an intrigue and suspense tale , adding his war memories . Furthermore , Andrew McLaglen actually served with the Irish Fusiliers in Mesopotamia during World War I at the same time this story took place . Max Steiner's musical score was Academy Award nominated, and this classic composer re-used the main title music he wrote for this film for the main title music for Casablanca , albeit with a slightly different instrumentation and tempo . Magnificent direction by the master John Ford and excellent interpretations make this a very good film . Subsequently remade and reworked several times : ¨Sahara¨ (by Zoltan Korda) with scenarios in Libya desert ; ¨Bataan¨(Tay Garnett) in Philippines jungle ; ¨Last of Comanches¨ (Andre De Toth) in Califonia desert ; and even part of ¨Flight of Phoenix¨ (Robert Aldrich) in Sahara desert . The motion picture will appeal to cinema classics moviegoers .

The second film version of an archetypal adventure story is arguably the best despite some dated elements; John Ford deftly handles the proceedings and Max Steiner's stirring score - which at times foreshadows his later one for CASABLANCA (1942) - is a major asset. The solid cast of character actors is highlighted by Boris Karloff's remarkable turn as a religious fanatic who is slowly driven crazy by the amorality of his comrades and the futility of their struggle against unseen Arab attackers. The film can not only be seen to form part of the "British Empire" sub-genre of adventure films - with THE LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (1935), THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1936), THE FOUR FEATHERS (1939) and GUNGA DIN (1939) being its most notable contemporary examples - but, if one were to stretch it a bit, also paves the way for more modern stuff like John Carpenter's ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976). It's unfortunate that nowadays, only the 66-minute reissue version seems to be available rather than the original, full-length 74 minute version. Over 20 years ago, I missed my one opportunity to watch this one on Italian TV and have been on the lookout for it ever since; however, I did manage to catch two similarly-themed wartime actioners, BATAAN (1943; with Robert Taylor) and SAHARA (1943; with Humphrey Bogart) over the years which were quite good in their own right. Curiously enough, Cyril McLaglen had played the same part played here by his brother Victor in the earlier 1929 British film version.

This early John Ford "talkie" (1934) crams in a lot of action and tension in just over an hour. It's the kind of classic film that could stand a good remake considering the subject matter and today's headlines in the Middle East. The plot is simple but effective. A dozen British soldiers on patrol in the Mesopotamian desert are attacked by an unseen force of Arabs. Their commanding officer is killed by a sniper and he was the only person who had knowledge of their exact location in the endless arid landscape. With no hope for reinforcements, the remaining soldiers are soon stranded on an obscure oasis and picked off one-by-one. Victor McLaglen is superb as the ranking sergeant trying to hold his dwindling force together. Boris Karloff is excellent (albeit a bit "over the top") as a religious lunatic who attempts to "convert" his comrades and the enemy to no avail. Adding to the suspense, the bewildered soldiers never see their attackers. The film's larger message regarding the utter futility of war hangs over the proceedings like a funeral shroud---but never gets in the way of the action. The surprising and shattering ending to this tale is one of the most unforgettable moments in 1930s cinema. Ford went on to make bigger pictures, but not too many were better than this one.

John Ford's critically acclaimed film has lost some of its punch, but still delivers an emotional feeling of helplessness, as the lost patrol is menaced by unseen Arabs, and are picked off one by one until few are left. That feeling is reinforced when a rescue airplane lands and the pilot, unaware of the danger, cavalierly walks toward the men, who try to signal him to take cover. But there are bit too many dead spots between the action sequences. And Boris Karloff tends to overact his religious fanatic role, which got on everyone's nerve, including mine. Still, the film is beautifully photographed and has a good Max Steiner score.