Ah !the call of the desert! In the thirties "L'Atlantide " "Le Grand Jeu " "La Bandera" among others .
In The late forties and the fifties ,some directors would continue the tradition ,often for worse.
"L'Escadron Blanc" : let's be precise:the movie does not deal with legionnaires but with soldiers in the French Camel Corps .
This is a nothing plot ,without a single endearing character ;the soldiers (note that the soldiers are natives whereas the officers (and the warrant officer played by René Lefèvre ,who tells the tale) are French ;the documentary side is the only asset : the natives speak their own language (and not pidgin French) ,they do what they must do in real life (they kill a dying camel and share the flesh),they are generally loyal .On the other hand ,all that concerns the French is business as usual: of course the two officers do not get on well,the young one,an inexperienced young man fresh from the academy ,consumed with fever from the beginning to the end (and however ,it is he who will survive!) As for the story ,the soldiers must capture a pillaging band...
In The late forties and the fifties ,some directors would continue the tradition ,often for worse.
"L'Escadron Blanc" : let's be precise:the movie does not deal with legionnaires but with soldiers in the French Camel Corps .
This is a nothing plot ,without a single endearing character ;the soldiers (note that the soldiers are natives whereas the officers (and the warrant officer played by René Lefèvre ,who tells the tale) are French ;the documentary side is the only asset : the natives speak their own language (and not pidgin French) ,they do what they must do in real life (they kill a dying camel and share the flesh),they are generally loyal .On the other hand ,all that concerns the French is business as usual: of course the two officers do not get on well,the young one,an inexperienced young man fresh from the academy ,consumed with fever from the beginning to the end (and however ,it is he who will survive!) As for the story ,the soldiers must capture a pillaging band...
