Beau Geste le baroudeur

This third film version of Beau Geste has its place in film history though it can't be compared to the star versions with Ronald Colman in 1927 and Gary Cooper in 1939. No big box office names are in this film just journeyman players who know their trade.

The third brother was dropped as well as the entire story line about just why the brothers are in the French Foreign Legion. Guy Stockwell goes first and winds up in a post where the ultra-sadistic Sergeant Major Telly Savalas holds sway. Later on Stockwell's brother Doug McClure joins him and they are unsuccessful in hiding the fact they are brothers.

We never do know exactly why the brothers or at least Stockwell is in the Legion as McClure is ostensibly along for the ride. There are some cryptic hints in some of the conversation. The last stand with troop at Fort Zinderneuf follows along the paths laid out by the more classic versions of Beau Geste.

One interesting part is that of David Mauro playing Boldini the snitch among the men to Savalas. There are some definite homoerotic overtones in his performance and watch Mauro's scenes with Savalas. Remember there are no women to be had anywhere near where these guys are stationed. So a guy like Boldini might be popular in some quarters even if he's an informer.

Of course there was a satirical remake in the next decade of Beau Geste with Michael York, Marty Feldman, and Peter Ustinov. It could probably use another version, it certainly is overdue. I'm surprised Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt never took up the story.

This one always used to appeared in the TV Guide as "a surprisingly good version". That's understandable, given the casting of Telly Savalas and Doug McClure. It's easy to dismiss it outright based on their reputations, but this movie was made when both were doing movies, before their TV careers, well before Telly started sucking lollipops and saying "who loves ya, baby?", and before Doug's string of truly awful B (or C) movies. Guy Stockwell is fine as the stalwart elder brother, and Leslie Neilsen a surprise as the drunken commanding officer. The plot is straightforward and serviceable, the action is exciting, the set pieces and themes well handled. I saw this movie first as a young man, and was taken by the action. I saw it again when I was a little older, and came to appreciate Telly Savalas' performance (indeed, it's about the only performance from him that I liked). I would watch it any time it was on. I tried the original, 1939 version, but found it too slow and talky for my tastes, like a great many old classics. Having never read the book, I was unoffended by the changes made to the story line. On its own merits, it's a good actioner. I admit I played "Beau Geste" with my Airfix soldiers in the sandbox, pitting the Bedouins against the Legionaries. It was one of those movies that left an indelible impact on my young mind. I wish it would get more consideration than it gets, because I would like for it to come on once in a while still, or be made available on VHS, if not DVD.

This qualifies as a tolerable "time-killer" largely because it's the kind of movie which, alas, Hollywood hardly ever makes anymore, but it pales in comparison to the 1939 version with Gary Cooper or the 1926 version with Ronald Colman. Guy Stockwell and Doug McClure play brothers, (the third one having been deleted from the story), and while both are agreeable actors, they seem too "modern" and "American" for this kind of period piece. (It's set in 1906.) However, these two good-looking and athletic actors fit nicely into the movie's blatant and unapologetic penchant for "beefcake in bondage." McClure, stripped to the waist, is punished by being locked into a sweat-box, and boy does he sweat, while Stockwell, also stripped to the waist, suffers a flogging -- which ranks 85th in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in then Movies" -- as well as a punishment which has him buried to the neck in the sun-scorched sand. (Just one year later, Stockwell and McClure were re-teamed for "The King's Pirate." In that movie, McClure was the one who got to feel the sting of a whip across his bare back.) Telly Savales is given free rein to snarl and glower but he's almost too well-cast as the villainous sergeant. The ending borders on the laughable with its high fatality rate for actors entirely dependent on their rank in the movie's official billing.

The 1939 Beau Geste was almost completely faithful to the early 20th century romantic novel with much more skillful, nuanced acting and plot development. This version transforms the three Geste brothers into Americans and substitutes a very vague, underdeveloped story line regarding their presence in the Foreign Legion.

However, this is a much better action movie. Telly Savalas is superb as the sadistic sergeant, and the almost thirty year time span between films allowed for a more explicit depiction of the sexual aspect of his twisted behavior. The battle scenes are brutally realistic and the uniforms, equipment, and methods of fighting are much more accurately portrayed here.

The most serious problem with the 1966 version is an absolutely horrid soundtrack. One of the worst ever. The traditional Legion march "Le Boudin" is converted into Lawrence Welk style dentist office Muzak, even though the original, at 171 years old, has long been in the public domain and is featured in most Foreign Legion movies. Actually, "boudin" was a sausage ration issued in the old Legion. The original lyrics are pretty silly (more recent stanzas not so), but, in it's original form, the march is most stirring.

Both films are quite entertaining. Those who want a more coherent story line, more intricate acting, and stronger characters, will no doubt prefer the 1939 version. But for action and realism, this one definitely gets the nod.

For those who watch the Cooper version, similarities will be made. The Cooper version is probably a bit better for most of us, and evokes more of the "childhood fantasies meet horrid realization" motif.

This film is good on its own merits. This film is completely the opposite of the other in the brothers who are killed. In fact, the third brother never even speaks, and we don't even know he is there if we watch the film. The second brother arrives late, and still serves as a character, but the entire focus is on "Beau" himself.

This film also gives us more of the sadistic NCO, played by Telly. He is not only cruel, but sadistic, as he even punishes those loyal to him.

The character of Beau is the motif of the story, however, and is what makes the film worthwhile. He is an "everyman", but yet "the man of mystery". True to life, the "man of mystery" is not someone who embarks on a ego trip, but someone who just lives life. It is not someone who tries to con, cheat, and confuse others, because Life does enough of that on its own (which makes such a person look like an inept fool to others), but someone who is honest and tries to do his job. Life ALWAYS makes such men look like "men of Mystery", because there are just too many oddities that occur.

This is what happens in "Cool Hand Luke", as Newman's character is made into a legend, yet from the beginning he tells the prison guard he doesn't want to make trouble, and he doesn't. His honesty is what turns him into a legend.

So it is here. Beau is miscast as a crusader and assassin, playing the "Inspector General" so to speak, both to the leaders, and to the men. He never tries to confuse any of them. He merely glides along, and that is what makes this film so breathtaking, and makes the action come so alive.