Homens do Deserto

This film dates from Burt Lancaster's swashbuckling period when he was trying to inherit Errol Flynn's mantle as Hollywood's leading action hero. "The Flame and the Arrow", for example, is a disguised remake of Flynn's greatest hit, "The Adventures of Robin Hood", with the story transferred from England to Italy, and "The Crimson Pirate" is in the same tradition as Flynn's "The Sea Hawk".

It has long been an Anglo-American jibe that the Foreign Legion is the greatest fighting force in the French Army "because it has no Frenchmen in it", and the exploits of the Legion have always been popular with film-makers. Although many Americans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were opposed to European colonialism, such opinions were rarely reflected in Hollywood films- "The Hurricane" from the late thirties is an exception- and "Ten Tall Men", which is set during the Rif War of the 1920s, takes a firmly pro- French position. Morocco was still a French colony in 1951, and the producers may have thought that an anti-colonialist stance would not go down well in the French market.

The film has something in common with the Gregory Peck Western "Only the Valiant" which appeared in the same year. In that film Peck plays a US cavalry officer who commands a small force tasked with holding off the Indians for long enough to allow reinforcements to reach a garrison threatened with attack. Here Lancaster plays Mike Kincaid, an American- born sergeant with the Legion, who commands a small force (the "ten tall men" of the title) tasked with holding off the Rifs for long enough to allow reinforcements to reach the threatened city of Tarfa. In both cases the small hand-picked force is largely recruited from the inmates of a military prison. (Kincaid himself has been imprisoned for striking an obnoxious Lieutenant in defence of a lady).

The main difference is that "Only the Valiant" took this scenario seriously, whereas "Ten Tall Men" is, by and large, a comedy, or at least a comedy/action hybrid. (In common with a number of films which tried to combine humour with adventure, the Bob Hope vehicle "The Paleface" being another example, there is a surprisingly high death toll). As part of his plan to foil the raid on Tarfa, Kincaid kidnaps Mahla, the beautiful fiancée the of villainous Rif leader Caid Hussein and, inevitably, the two end up falling in love. (It seems to be a widely-held belief in Hollywood that the quickest way to a woman's heart is to kidnap her). Equally inevitably, Mahla is played by an American actress, Jody Lawrance, rather than a Moroccan one.

"Ten Tall Men" is a better film than "Only the Valiant", which even Peck acknowledged as one of his weakest, precisely because the latter treats an implausible scenario seriously, whereas the former takes a very similar scenario and treats it in a more light-hearted manner. As a swashbuckling hero Lancaster was not in the same league as Flynn- he was to achieve more later in his career when he reinvented himself as a serious actor- but here he is charismatic enough to keep the film watchable, with the aid of some well-handled action sequences. 6/10

Somewhere in the 1950's Hollywood discovered a simple formula for superior entertainment. Around that formula, any major star worth his salt could inspire a group of characters to create a magical memory. Thus this movie called " Ten Tall men " became a hit. Burt Lancaster, plays Sgt. Mike Kincaid, a French Foreign Legionnaire, who, while in a military stockade, learns of an impending attack on the city proper while the main garrison is away. Volunteering for what some consider a suicide mission, he and nine other prisoners ride into the desert to impede the attack for five days. During that time, the small group creates havoc among the gathering tribes to get their attention. Further they kidnap Mahla (Jody Lawrance) a tribal princess, which prevents the evil Khalif Hussein (Gerald Mohr) from caring out his attack. The entire film is fun to watch as great actors like Gilbert Roland, Kieron Moore, George Tobias, John Dehner and Mike Mazurki establish a wonderful and fun filled afternoon of creative enjoyment. A solid family offering for all ages. Easilly recommended. ****

More known for writing credits that include the likes of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Sergeant Rutledge, Willis Goldbeck here instead jumps into the directors chair for this fun Burt Lancaster led desert adventure piece. Also starring Jody Lawrance, Gerald Mohr and John Dehner, the film finds a cast rightly not taking things too seriously. The plot sees Sergeant Mike Kincaid (Lancaster all teeth and pectorals) lead nine Legionnaires on a deadly mission to delay a Riff attack on a desert fort. Whilst on the trek Kincaid learns that the Riff leader Khalid Hussein (Mohr) is planning to marry Mahla (Lawrance) so as to unite two once opposing tribes. So, to prevent the marriage, Kincaid kidnaps Mahla and the troubles for the Legionnaires are about to get much much worse.

It's easy to dismiss the all round acting as being rather poor, but with the material and the obvious tone the makers were going for, it all sits rather well. None more so than with the square jawed Lancaster, an Oscar winning actor whose comic timing wasn't always put to the best use. Here, however, it is. For sure much of the film is iffy technically, but in glorious Technicolor and with smiles and moustaches aplenty, the film winds up being the undemanding light entertainment piece it set out to be. Think Carry On Follow That Camel meets The Crimson Pirate and we are about there I think. 5.5/10

In those last years before the French finally cleared out of North Africa, Foreign Legion films seem to have been popular with the movie going public. Ten Tall Men is a typical example of such a film. Even though ultimately and soon the French would be driven out of the area the Foreign Legion patrolled before the decade ended.

Burt Lancaster is a sergeant of American background in the Foreign Legion and typically we don't know what drove him to join. His two corporals are Gilbert Roland and Kieron Moore and a bit of lese majeste involving Mari Blanchard got these guys some stockade time. Still they and others break out and hear of both an impending attack by the Riffs while the regiment is away on their post. It will be at the conclusion of a marriage between Jody Laurence the daughter of one sheik and Gerald Mohr another sheik. Once these tribes are united nothing stands in their way.

What to do but kidnap the daughter and hold her until the regiment returns. That proves easier said than done and once done a lot harder to tame this desert wildcat. But Burt with that smile and those pecs is the guy for the job.

None of the players in Ten Tall Men took this one real seriously and neither should we. Ten Tall Men is like a combination of The Desert Song and The Road To Morocco without songs.

Don't believe me, well check out the end and you can't tell me The Road To Morocco didn't inspire that.

Typical Oriental adventure movie set during the Riff War in Morocco , the French Foreign Legion governs an outpost in the middle of desert. The threatened outpost is usually attacked by the Muslim natives . Then the valiant sergeant Kincaid : Burt Lancaster schemes a plan to to vanquish the Muslims by kidnapping a bride : Jody Lawrence about to marry an Arab chief . As the Sergeant along with his underlings : George Tobias, Nick Dennis , Mike Mazurki , John Dehner , Kieron Moore , Michael Pate , among others carry out a dangerous mission.

Thrilling movie following the mould of the Oriental Adventures in Universal Pictures style . Being produced by the tandem Harold Hetch- James Hill-Burt Lancaster from Norma Production that financed a lot of nice films , most of them starred by Burt Lancaster . This Ten Tell Men 1951 contains noisy action , frisky adventure , enjoyable humor , impressive feats , thrills , go riding , sandstorm sequences and breathtaking chases . Howevever , this fun and amusing flick can't really disguise the fact that it is the ordinary Oriental Adventure Here Burt Lancaster was still in his all-action period when he turned out this moving and enjoyable Foreign Legion tale , such as "The Flame and the Arrow", "The Crimson Pirate" , "His Majesty O'Keefe" , "The Kentuckian" , though he formerly performed Noir Films such as: "Criss Cross" , "Sorry Wrong Number" and "The Killers" .

Here stands out a great and large support cast , as you can spot several secondaries with formidable characters as Gerard Mohr , John Dehner, Nick Dennis , Mike Mazurski, Michael Pate, Ian McDonald , Kieron Moore , George Tobias. And other up-and-coming stars as Ricardo Montalban and the extremely charming Mari Blanchard in a small character . The motion picture was competently directed by Willis Goldbeck . Rating : 6.5/10. Better than average adventure movie . Well worth seeing . The movie will appeal to Burt Lancaster fans .