The Sahara -- Years Ago! Land of Sand, Riffs, Adventure, and beaded curtains!
Also fairy tales like this story. Burt Lancaster is a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion, head of a pack of madcap ne'er-do-wells including some of the leading lights among the supporting players of the 40s and 50s. There's Gilbert Roland, Mike Mazurky, George Tobias and John Dehner. Yes, they will fight over a pair of socks but share the last drop in their canteen with the others. When they die, it's with a joke on their lips. ("Why does the chicken cross the road?") One for all; all for one. For added thrills and laughs, there is Mari Blanchard in a canary yellow dress and a fluffy hair do of the same tint.
Lancaster and his men capture a Riff prisoner and bring him back to Lieutenant Kruger in temporary charge of the base at Tafra. Kruger is played meanly by Stephen Bekassy. Bekassy was a Hungarian but no matter. One foreign accent sounds much like any other to Hollywood's ears, and it's as well that the mean guy should be a German because 1951 was only six years after the end of World War II and we still hadn't forgiven the Nazis.
Bekassy and Lancaster hate each other. And while Bekassy is busy torturing the Riff prisoner, Lancaster's Sergeant Kinkaid does roughly to Bekassy's girl friend what Lancaster's Sergeant Warden did to HIS captain's wife in "From Here to Eternity."
Result: Lancaster and his musketeers are sent on a dangerous mission through the desert in order to avert a Riff attack on the undermanned base. They kidnap a princess who is the cause of it all and gallop off into the wasteland. This is some princess too, well worth kidnapping, even if it doesn't prevent a war. Jody Lawrance, in dark makeup, is sublimely beautiful and sexy. She burns with hatred for the Legionnaires. She glares at them with irises the color of obsidian. When she speaks her voice is low, throaty, piercing, menacing, bitter, conjuring up personal images of marriages past. And she's awfully cute when she's mad. The men, of course, all want to ravage her -- except for Lancaster, who saves her from their brutality. For a moment, Lancaster and princess clinch while the ghost of Rimsky-Korsakoff plays a romantic tune in the background.
Situation Report. The half-dozen or so legionnaires are hustling across the desert with the sultry princess in tow, pursued by a multitude of black-robed, outraged, and frustrated Elf Kings. The chase is not without its hazard. Three of the legionnaires are picked off, each after some heroic deed, expiring in the arms of a comrade, always cheerful. "Londos, you're hurt bad." "I'm cashing in my chips, Mike, but why -- why -- did Descartes suddenly disappear in the wine shop? (Gasp.)"
The ending is a Donneybrook in the enemy camp, so comic it could be Bing Crosby and Bob Hope instead of Lancaster's men. There are tense moments when a Riff has Lancaster pinned under him, both men straining against the Arab dagger, only quivering inches from Lancaster's taut face. Do Burt and his men save the fort? Does Burt get the girl? Is that supposed to be a joke?
Burt Lancaster is at his best here. With a few exceptions like "Atlantic City," he was never much of a serious actor but he was great in these early adventure roles. He pulled out all the stops to magisterial comic effect. His grin is filled with Chiclets. He bounces around as if he were half his actual size, limber but not muscle bound. Off the screen he was an equally admirable altruist. Lots of fun.
Also fairy tales like this story. Burt Lancaster is a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion, head of a pack of madcap ne'er-do-wells including some of the leading lights among the supporting players of the 40s and 50s. There's Gilbert Roland, Mike Mazurky, George Tobias and John Dehner. Yes, they will fight over a pair of socks but share the last drop in their canteen with the others. When they die, it's with a joke on their lips. ("Why does the chicken cross the road?") One for all; all for one. For added thrills and laughs, there is Mari Blanchard in a canary yellow dress and a fluffy hair do of the same tint.
Lancaster and his men capture a Riff prisoner and bring him back to Lieutenant Kruger in temporary charge of the base at Tafra. Kruger is played meanly by Stephen Bekassy. Bekassy was a Hungarian but no matter. One foreign accent sounds much like any other to Hollywood's ears, and it's as well that the mean guy should be a German because 1951 was only six years after the end of World War II and we still hadn't forgiven the Nazis.
Bekassy and Lancaster hate each other. And while Bekassy is busy torturing the Riff prisoner, Lancaster's Sergeant Kinkaid does roughly to Bekassy's girl friend what Lancaster's Sergeant Warden did to HIS captain's wife in "From Here to Eternity."
Result: Lancaster and his musketeers are sent on a dangerous mission through the desert in order to avert a Riff attack on the undermanned base. They kidnap a princess who is the cause of it all and gallop off into the wasteland. This is some princess too, well worth kidnapping, even if it doesn't prevent a war. Jody Lawrance, in dark makeup, is sublimely beautiful and sexy. She burns with hatred for the Legionnaires. She glares at them with irises the color of obsidian. When she speaks her voice is low, throaty, piercing, menacing, bitter, conjuring up personal images of marriages past. And she's awfully cute when she's mad. The men, of course, all want to ravage her -- except for Lancaster, who saves her from their brutality. For a moment, Lancaster and princess clinch while the ghost of Rimsky-Korsakoff plays a romantic tune in the background.
Situation Report. The half-dozen or so legionnaires are hustling across the desert with the sultry princess in tow, pursued by a multitude of black-robed, outraged, and frustrated Elf Kings. The chase is not without its hazard. Three of the legionnaires are picked off, each after some heroic deed, expiring in the arms of a comrade, always cheerful. "Londos, you're hurt bad." "I'm cashing in my chips, Mike, but why -- why -- did Descartes suddenly disappear in the wine shop? (Gasp.)"
The ending is a Donneybrook in the enemy camp, so comic it could be Bing Crosby and Bob Hope instead of Lancaster's men. There are tense moments when a Riff has Lancaster pinned under him, both men straining against the Arab dagger, only quivering inches from Lancaster's taut face. Do Burt and his men save the fort? Does Burt get the girl? Is that supposed to be a joke?
Burt Lancaster is at his best here. With a few exceptions like "Atlantic City," he was never much of a serious actor but he was great in these early adventure roles. He pulled out all the stops to magisterial comic effect. His grin is filled with Chiclets. He bounces around as if he were half his actual size, limber but not muscle bound. Off the screen he was an equally admirable altruist. Lots of fun.