La Patrouille perdue

THE LOST PATROL from the British Army in Mesopotamia desperately defends itself in a tiny oasis from Arab attackers.

John Ford directed this powerful Great War tale of agonizing heartbreak and desperate perseverance. The film becomes a character study as the eleven soldiers succumb, inevitably, to madness and snipers' bullets. Ford craftily keeps the Arabs unseen for an hour, making the implacable desolation of the sun scorched desert the men's worst enemy.

British actor Victor McLaglen is the absolute backbone of the film. Beefy McLaglen--who had his own distinguished military career in World War One--is perfectly believable as the stalwart sergeant with the task of keeping his men alive at the water hole until relief can arrive. Bullying, blustering, brave, his is a heroic performance of a man fighting titanic odds.

Gaunt Boris Karloff appears as a religiously fanatical private; his final scene, carrying a large cross up a dune, is especially memorable. Also in the patrol are Wallace Ford as a lively music hall performer and Reginald Denny as a gentleman with a past. Among the other men are good-natured Billy Bevan, sturdy Alan Hale and naive teenager Douglas Walton.

Max Steiner's powerful soundtrack propels the plot onward to its inevitable conclusion.

John Ford's the Lost Patrol probably reflects Ford's views on life in general . Ford knew what he wanted in the way he handles the various actors in their parts and each fulfills their role admirably . Karloff is a bit over the top at times and evidently Ford wanted that . Ford's symbolism is reflected in the setting , the circumstances and the characters and is enhanced by Max Steiners' brilliant score . The characters are a " Grand Hotel " collection , but each having his own views about life and how death meets them.

The setting is Mesopotamia , the original Garden of Eden as pointed out by Karloff . Here is Eden ruined by the fall of man , bleak , barren and deserted .There are only ruins with very little nourishment for sustenance . Death is represented by the unseen Arabs. It strikes without warning or without being seen . It strikes at the most inopportune times . All want an opportunity to fight this unseen enemy that has decimated their ranks.It strikes mercilessly and cruelly and shatters all hope . Man facing his mortality controls nearly all of the discussions and the reminiscing .

The helplessness of man in the midst of his circumstances seems to be Ford's "arch" for this film . This is conveyed by the inability to see the enemy or know when he will strike . He steals the provisions needed to survive and there is no way to retrieve them .The seeming 'victory' of reaching the oasis shatters that illusion after the first night .

One other commented on the anti-Christian ( or religious ) bias of Ford that shows itself in this picture . One strong point that Ford makes is that there is ' no help from above '. The airplane seems to be a sign that help has arrived , but that hope is soon shot down . Then the two men discuss that they know nothing about flying ( read religion ) . Their final act of helplessness and unbelief is to burn the plane . No help is coming from above ( God ) .

I sat spellbound watching Ford weave a masterpiece of a tapestry of symbolism . Here is Ford at the top of his game and illustrating his genius whether you agree with his philosophy or not . This is not just a story ( and it is a great one at that ) , but it is man's response to life . That is where and why the attempted remakes have failed . They see only the struggle and try to focus on that . The struggle against odds has been done in every genre ,so they bring nothing new to the table . Ford used the struggle as a tableau for the deeper struggle of the basic dilemmas of man and life.

I will watch this over and over .

No, 'The Lost Patrol' is actually not as bad as that review summary (me trying to think of a summary that wasn't too generic or overused as others) made it sound. It has divided viewers and critics and it is not hard at all to see why. There was a lot of potential here, one of golden age cinema's best, more consistent and most influential directors in John Ford, an interesting idea for a story, music from Max Steiner and a talented cast (especially love Boris Karloff, a horror film icon).

'The Lost Patrol' really isn't one of Ford's best and it is actually one of my least favourite earlier efforts of his and a lesser effort of his overall to me. It does contain some of the best work of some of those involved, while others do not come over well which will be elaborated upon below. Is 'The Lost Patrol' bad? Absolutely not. It takes a lot for me to call any film of Ford's bad and this is no exception. The execution though was disappointing and very flawed.

Shall start with the good things. 'The Lost Patrol' looks great, some obvious rear projection aside on occasion. The photography is very beautiful and atmospheric and the scenery is typically quite majestic. Steiner's score has gotten mixed reviews here, for me it was lushly orchestrated (not surprising as it is Steiner), sweeping and deliciously exotic but can see why others found it intrusive and not always original (personally found the referencing affectionate and effective). There are signs of Ford's directorial brilliance, the more action oriented scenes are powerful and rouse.

Acting is generally not bad with one glaring exception. Victor McLaglen gives a ferocious and commanding performance in the lead role and Reginald Denny is just as excellent. Wallace Ford also excels in a type of role that he was always comfortable in.

Unfortunately, Karloff gives a rare bad performance in a truly bizarre part that was like watching an uncomfortably strange cartoon. His outrageously exaggerated acting is really at odds with everything else. Really appreciated that the film really did take time to try to make the characters meaty but this takes up too much of the cartoon and only McLaglen's character has much meat or felt realistic, the others felt like stereotypes and not always sensitive ones. The script has some thoughtful and intriguing moments but suffers from too much long-winded talk.

Furthermore, the story never properly comes to life, sometimes uneventful, and is a tonal muddle. Indicative of trying to do too many things and it was not clear what the film was trying to be. There is not enough suspense, very little is realistic here and the comedic moments jar and come over as odd.

In conclusion, a tricky one to rate and review and just didn't gel for me. All personal opinion. 5/10

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.

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 .