La dernière charge

Let me start by saying this was not a "Beau Geste" by any means - it was set in Morocco and the locations looked very good, but that is the end of the "penny section!" I had always found George Raft to be completely wooden, and he proved it again in this one, but he did show me he was a very good dancer (clearly the highlight for him in this epic!). And well into his 50's when this was made took away any believability for him to be a romantic hero. The role, had it not been made on a shoe string, needed a Tyrone Power or a Errol Flynn to make it worthwhile. Marie Windsor looked like she wanted to be somewhere else, while Akim Tamiroff was clearly the best performer in the cast. Seeing Raft "act" makes me so glad to rejected the leads in "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon" - had he not done so, they would not be genuine movie classics.

This effort shows that, if Raft and Windsor had had better luck of the draw, he may have gotten more light romantic lead parts (rather than tough guy things) and she might have done Kubrick-style films more and science fiction less. Raft shows a flair for underplayed humor and Windsor, clearly no fool, outclasses the usual female leads (she later served as a director of the Screen Actors Guild).

A bleak, remote setting is the background for this Foreign Legion tale of adventure which moves along steadily with few dull moments, at least for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Akim Tamiroff in his role as Lieutenant Glysko. He certainly excels as a character actor, breathing new life into whatever role he takes on. There's quite an exciting battle scene midway and some fierce racing horses as a battle unfolds.

George Raft and Marie Windsor were seldom at the top of my charts yet they are well suited in this film and meld nicely in the romantic episodes. I'd regard this one as standard entertainment, no frills.

A fading George Raft nearing the end of his studio career finds himself wooing Arab chief's daughter Marie Windsor in a backlot Moroccan outpost in this very ordinary adventure movie. Fortunately Akim Tamiroff is on hand to inject some life into proceedings. The downbeat ending comes as something of a shock coming after all the routine that came before it.

When I read the book The George Raft File I was shocked to learn that this Foreign Legion epic was actually shot in Morocco in actual locations with the cooperation of the Moroccan Royal Family and the Legion. If the French were looking for a recruiting tool for the Foreign Legion, they'd have been better doing a remake of Paramount's Morocco or Beau Geste.

Some elements of those two films get into Outpost in Morocco. The story such as it is has George Raft in a role that should have been Tyrone Power's if it had been a better script seducing lovely Marie Windsor, daughter of one of the local sheiks. Windsor's father is Eduard Franz who's stirring up rebellion against the French. Can Marie stop it and save her beloved Raft at the same time. If you care you might give this a look.

This film has the look and feel of a tax write off. Everybody here just goes through the motions. Raft is too wooden to seriously be considered as a romantic figure and Windsor does so much better when she's playing bad girls. Akim Tamiroff as a transplanted Cossack in the Legion comes off best, a dubious distinction for this film.

I guess the American cast also did it for a free trip to Morocco. Good a reason as any.