Beau Geste (1939)

The film gets high kudos for being well directed, well acted, and well produced. It is one of the great films of 1939 that remains entertaining nearly seventy years later. But like that other classic GONE WITH THE WIND the racism in the background is amazing.

Percival Wren's novels are not readily available today, although back in 1971 I was amazed to see them on the shelf of my high school library. Wren, growing up in the late 19th Century, was growing up in an age of hyper - nationalism, and imperialism. So when he writes, the negative stereotypes of third world types (and of peoples of other European countries) come out. In this case, the Arabs are the evil villains. That the French are invading their land is not dealt with. The odd thing is that the author was British, and he could (if he wanted to) have made the French less likable, but that did not happen. To Wren, British character was the top of the line, and French not far behind it. But Arab was at the bottom (in some of his books Jews do not come out too well either, but that is not apparent in this film).

He's lifted some of the plot line from Wilkie Collins' THE MOONSTONE, as the plot is about the theft of a very valuable jewel, and how the "Geste" brothers (Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston) leave England in disgrace and join the French Foreign Legion to make amend for their apparent theft of the jewel, leaving Heather Thatcher (Lady Isobel - their guardian) and Susan Hayward (Isobel - Ray Milland's sweetheart) and James Stephenson (Major Henri De Beaujolais - their friend since childhood) shocked. Only their old childhood nemesis, G.P.Huntley (Augustus "Sir Mordred") is glad to see the thieves go.

Question might arise - why join the French Foreign Legion? Well, if they joined the British army or navy, after confessing the theft, they could have been brought back for trial. They could have crossed the Atlantic and joined the American cavalry out west (there are cases like that), but they choose the Foreign Legion as Major De Beaujolais has always told them stories about it.

So they go to North Africa and sign up. It is a harsh life as a mercenary, in one of the all-time hardest fighting units in military history. The Foreign Legion is usually associated with fighting the Riffs and Tuaregs of North Africa (particularly with books or films like this). They also fought in Mexico (in the 1860s) to prop up Emperor Maximilian, in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam) in the 19th and 20th Centuries, and are still in use today.

But here they are used for policing purposes: they are to put down revolts by the natives who won't give up their rights to rule themselves. They are actually fighting the grandfathers of the men who reclaimed Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia in the 20th Century.

Cooper, Milland, and Preston soon meet the men they fight alongside with: Broderick Crawford, Albert Dekker, and J. Carroll Naish. This is one film with a great cast of character actors. As was pointed out on another comment it is the character actors who make this film live. Naish as the hyena-like Razomov, who makes himself too useful to the villain of the piece (the unscrupulous Sgt. Markov - Brian Donleavy) gave one of the best performances in his career. Same with Donleavy, who is a real bastard but also a great fighter. Watch as Donleavy keeps figuring out ways to fool the enemy such as propping up dead bodies on the roof of the fort, or having the men laugh to suggest there are more me

Fmovies: The addition of sound, and a sharper focus, only serves to make this version of "Beau Geste" (1926) seem older, and less European; specifically, the lack of consideration for the change in technology, from silent to sound, does not make this an improvement over the original silent film. And, the ages in the cast do not add up. Still, it's a good adventure story, and a fine Hollywood production. Despite showing the obvious "generation gap", Gary Cooper (Beau), Ray Milland (John), Robert Preston (Digby) are valiant as the brothers Geste, who join the French Foreign Legion for honor and gratitude.

Brian Donlevy's sadistic "Sergeant Markov" (nee "Lejaune"), who promises his men, "I make soldiers out of scum like you and I don't do it gently!" was duly nominated for a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar. A future nominated J. Carrol Naish (as Rasinoff) is also quite nasty. Donald O'Connor (young Beau) and the opening segments help get the film off to a great start. You'll have to decide whether or not the film proves the Arabian proverb: "The love of a man for a woman waxes and wanes like the moon, but the love of brother for brother is steadfast as the stars and endures like the word of the prophet."

******* Beau Geste (8/2/39) William A. Wellman ~ Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Brian Donlevy, Robert Preston

I've only rarely had this reaction to a movie before: at the time I'm watching it, I can't wait for it to be over, and days later as it mellows in my head, I realize it was a pretty good movie. Beau Geste is a classic war film, and it's the type of movie that could have been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, but it happened to be released during a highly competitive year. Here at Hot Toasty Rag, it was nominated for both Best Picture and Best Director, William Wellman.

Three brothers, Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston, are close to their aunt, Heather Thatcher. Heather's entire means of support comes from a massive blue sapphire, but when money is tight and she has to make arrangements to sell the family heirloom, the brothers make a move to protect her that has drastic consequences. Someone steals the sapphire, and the other brothers chase after him. All three wind up in the French Foreign Legion, and under the mercy of tough commander Brian Donlevy.

Besides Heather, and a couple of romantic scenes between Susan Hayward and Ray Milland, there are no other women in the movie. This is a macho, brotherly love movie about soldiers and the bonds of friendship being thicker than blood. Brian is the typical tough sergeant we've come to know and love in the movies, but he's incredible smart, shrewd, and a great soldier. Even though he does tend to be heavy handed in his punishments, the audience can't help but admire his war strategy.

One absolutely darling bonus to the movie is a scene early on showing the household growing up as children together. Fourteen-year-old Donald O'Connor plays young Gary Cooper! He's such a doll, you'll wish a more likable counterpart was cast as his grown-up self. I never find Gary very likable, and since he's the title character and responsible for the entire mess of the movie, I couldn't help but wish he'd had better decision-making skills. If someone like Errol Flynn had been cast as Beau Geste, I probably wouldn't mind what he does. Errol's charming, magnetic, and seems like he has good intentions, which is how Beau Geste's character was supposed to be.

If you like war movies that shy away from blood and guts, since it was made in 1939, you'll probably want to rent Beau Geste. It's a classic, and easily confused with Gunga Din, Four Feathers, and Under Two Flags, but there's an enormously eerie scene in the beginning of the film that you'll never forget. What is so bone-chilling, you wonder? You'll have to watch it to find out.

Beau Geste fmovies. How different adventure movies from in the 1930s are from their counterparts today. Honor, loyalty, bravery, sacrifice...what concepts! Beau Geste has them all in spades.

A very interesting story, this movie is as much a mystery as adventure story. It spans 15 years, following three adopted brothers from their childhood in an English manor house to their membership in the French Foreign Legion and their stationing at a fort in the remote reaches of the Sahara.

If you are tired of the paperthin, hole-ridden plots of today's action movies that rely on CGI and special effects instead of story, then this movie is for you!

It gets off to a great start ... as a mystery. A relief cavalry approaches a Saharan desert outpost called Fort Zinderneuf, enclosed on all four sides. A cursory investigation from the outside indicates that all the soldiers at the fort are dead, propped up like mannequins with guns in their hands as if prepared to shoot. Then, without warning, two shots are fired at the arriving cavalry from inside the fort. The head of the relief cavalry sends a soldier in to investigate, but he disappears. When the relief cavalry moves inside the fort, a note is found on the body of one of the dead soldiers. The note is a confession of theft of a high-priced sapphire.

"Beau Geste" is a rousing adventure story of three brothers who start out as close-nit siblings in a privileged English household, and end up as adults in North Africa, as part of the French Foreign Legion.

The plot structure is mostly one long flashback. After the opening mystery, the plot reverts back fifteen years to when the three brothers were kids, with dreams of being in the military. The plot then progresses forward to reveal their actions that led ultimately to the film's opening mystery.

The plot is okay but a tad weak in the middle Act. Too much emphasis is placed on the sadistic Sgt. Markoff (Brian Donlevy), leader of Fort Zinderneuf. He overshadows the three brothers, and is thus somewhat distracting.

The film's B&W visuals are quite good. Yet, this is one film I would like to have seen in color. All that sand and the emptiness of the desert contrasts nicely with the staid, claustrophobic Victorian interiors the three brothers grew up in.

Acting is acceptable overall. But Gary Cooper is miscast in the lead role. He looks too old to play Beau. And his acting is rather wooden. I would have preferred a younger, perhaps less well-known actor.

Background music is wasted. It's too nondescript to contribute any emotional tone to the story, and it is at times manipulative.

Overall, "Beau Geste" is an engaging adventure story, with themes of loyalty, bravery, and honor. Despite some minor irritations, it's a well-constructed, highly credible film, one that is definitely worth watching.

A magnificent blue sapphire is stolen from the English estate of Brandon Abbas. BEAU GESTE and his two younger brothers are all suspected of the crime. To save their family from dishonor, they each make their way to join the French Foreign Legion. In the emptiness of North Africa, supported only by their love for each other, they will encounter pure evil...

Not only a wonderful adventure story, BEAU GESTE is also a morality tale on the true meaning of courage, the loyalty of brother for brother, and the responsibilities of virtue when confronted by absolute evil. Examined this way, the film can be enjoyed by the thoughtful viewer on many levels.

In the title role, Gary Cooper is excellent, exuding quiet strength & righteousness. Robert Preston & Ray Milland, as his younger brothers, give top-notch support. Here is a band of brothers to be reckoned with.

But it is the villains who really steal the show. Brian Donlevy is unforgettable as Sergeant Markoff, a sadist from the lowest depths of hell. To watch him drive the defense of his outpost, using the living & the dead, is to see a man driven mad by the evil chewing away at his very soul.

J. Carrol Naish is equally memorable as Rasinoff the rat. A little man used to lies & thievery, he becomes the natural toady for Markoff. When his fear finally drives him insane atop the watch tower, and he begins to cackle like a beast, it is a horrible sound to hear.

Broderick Crawford appears as a cowboy turned legionnaire. Albert Dekker is formidable as a mutinous soldier. Adolescent Donald O'Connor plays young Beau.

Director William Wellman gave the film fine atmospherics. Who can forget, in the very first sequence, the quiet ride up to eerie Fort Zinderneuf, manned by its unblinking sentries? The flashback scenes are rather tedious, but when the plot returns to the desert, there's adventure enough for the most jaded viewer.