La Chevauchée de la Gloire

Released in 1946, this feature is cobbled together from a 12 part 1933 Mascot serial, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and purports to be based upon the classic work by Dumas, with the action transferred to the Sahara and involving a struggle of the French Foreign Legion opposite a secret group of Arab villains, with John Wayne's character mentioned in the script as D'Artagnan to a trio of guardsmen. The original serial is grotesquely silly, and this synthesis is, if possible, even worse, with situations and dialogue that are numbingly puerile; however, if the film lacks any direction whatsoever, the viewer cannot fail but be amazed at the athletic equestrian stuntwork of Yakima Canutt and his crew of worthies, actively and dramatically superior as they are to the remainder of the performers.

It's interesting that "Desert Command" is a 1946 movie release made from a condensed 1933 film. Apparently, the earlier film, "TheThree Musketeers," was put together from a series of short ones. Two earlier reviewers give some good information on that. In the early years of movies – and through the 1950s as I can recall, the standard movie fare on any given weekend was two movies and a cartoon. One film would be a short or a "B" grade movie. So, it's interesting to see this much later release of snippets put together in a single film from the 1933 film footage.

One thing very noticeable, is the difference in quality that 13 years made. By 1946, John Wayne had been in 110 movies. The quality of the films he had been in the past several years – whether A or B movies, was quite good. So, the snowy, scratchy, poor quality of this Mascot film from 1933 footage really stands out.

This film has lots of the action from the earlier film. But it suffers greatly in the plot, editing and all technical aspects. I think the plot has several holes where scenes don't connect well. For instance, Elaine Corday (played by Ruth Hall) rides to an Arab hideout to report a possible spy to an Arab chieftain. It sure looked like she was part of the evil network of El Shatan. So, when other scenes have her helping one side and then the other, it becomes quite confusing.

This film has some well known names of the time in the cast, besides John Wayne. But aside from the action in a very choppy and disoriented plot, there's little else to recommend it.

This compilation from the serial "The Three Musketeers" (nothing to do with Alexandre Dumas' story) is probably more notable for it's more impressive aerial acrobatics than for anything we see from the actors. John Wayne leads the cast as one of a trio of French Foreign legionnaires dealing with renegade Arab forces led by the enigmatic "El Shaitan" who is smuggling weapons to the local tribes. It frequently uses the music to cover up for lack of decent audio and though it does try to make much more use of outdoor, rather then studio scenarios - quite brave (and expensive) for 1933, it is still a pretty ropey affair to look at. It's still worth a watch as an historical piece of cinema, but keep your sights aimed low...

An American mystery action spy adventure; A story about a trio of foreign legionnaires who confront a mysterious Arab terrorist when their rescuer is framed for murder. This is a 70 minute movie edited from a a 1933 film serial "The Three Musketeers". It is loosely based on Alexandre Dumas' famous 1844 novel. The film achieves a period setting and it has some good aerial acrobatics and a few diverting action sequences, but it is poorly constructed and looks choppy because scenes are stitched together without good flow and unaided by musical theme. The performances from most of the cast look stilted.

Watched this movie on YouTube and looked it up because I thought they had the wrong year of production. I have seen 1946 John Wayne. I know 1946 John Wayne. 1946 John Wayne is a friend of mine. This movie is not 1946 John Wayne. Other reviewers were helpful to inform that this movie is a compilation from a 12 part 1933 serial which was released in 1946 to take advantage of the Duke's stardom. The movie is loaded with stars early in their careers: Lon Chaney, Noah Berry and many others. It is an old serial and it looks like one. I enjoyed it, but if you are looking for a desert movie with high production values and a plot not written by a fifth grader, watch Lawrence of Arabia.