This film is one of the masterpieces of movie-making. It is the prototypical French Foreign Legion film. It has been redone and copied numerous times. Start with the cast. Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston are the principle characters. Then we have a who's who of character actors who fill the spaces. Then we take a mystery that spans decades, where everyone is implicated in some way. Where is that missing jewel and why was it taken? Put that aside and simply create the great dangers of the Sahara and all its challenges as the the three brothers cast their fates to the wind. The scene at the fortress where dead bodies are used as props and the oasis scene are some of the best that Hollywood has ever created. There is nothing pat or simple about the way all this plays out, but I won't ruin it for anyone. See this film if you never have. See it again if you have.

Having heard about this movie for the last 30 years, I finally got around to watching this on DVD that I borrowed from the library. The main reason I'm watching this now is because I've been on a hook to watch various of Donald O'Connor's movies in chronological order, what I can find of them anyway. So when I found out he's in this one as Gary Cooper's character's younger self, I knew I had to watch this one pronto! Anyway, he appears with his co-star from Tom Sawyer, Detective-Billy Cook. With them are two kid stars from 1938's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (made by Selznick, not Paramount which made the TSD movie as well as the one I'm now reviewing)-David Holt and Ann Gillis. Their scenes were fun to watch which extended when we first watch some of them as adults when portrayed by Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, and Susan Hayward-before she became a leading star herself. By the time those men-who are brothers in the film-join the Foreign Legion, there's some great drama concerning them and their encounter with their sadistic sergeant played perfectly by Brian Donlevy. There's more but I think I'll just stop there and just say I highly recommend this version of Beau Geste.

*Spoiler/plot- Beau Geste, 1939. Most men join the French Foreign Legion to forget, the three Geste's brothers joined to be forgotten by everyone. They're running from a family scandal of the theft of a missing 'Bue Water' sapphire. But their troubles are overshadowed in the burning Sahara desert under the tyranny of a sadistic sergeant and defending a desert fort from the native uprising Arab riflemen.*Special Stars- Gary Cooper, Ray Millard, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, J. Carrol Nash, Broderick Crawford.*Theme- Family is all important.*Trivia/location/goofs- B & W. One of the most remade film stories/plots in film history. Fort was in Yuma, AZ. The French flag is flying before a soldier is ordered to climb the tower to put it up. Several University of San Deigo students discovered the Location of the fort and then shot their own version of Beau Geste in the 40s.*Emotion- This is the best and most memorable version of the Beau Geste script. The wonderfully casted and acted lead roles make this film the hallmark of how the other remakes are judged. A gem of an entertaining and dramatic film that everyone should see at least once.

Last night, upon receiving a mail order, borderline watchable DVD, I played the silent version of Beau Geste starring Ronald Colman. The 1939 version is not a scene-by-scene remake, but it is darn close. Where there are notable differences they are for the better. But I heartily recommend the 1926 film to those who love the Cooper-Milland-Donleavy version and are willing to pay for a crappy transfer. (Why there are so many great movies that have never been released in a cleaned-up DVD version beats me).I'll blame shelling out for a sub-par, silent version on my dad. I was blessed to have a father who loved movies. Dad's gone now. But his encouragement and never-ending desire to turn me on to the films he loved as a kid lives on in me. So many great movies together on the couch in the era of four channel television.Some of dad's favorites, "The Thief of Bagdad," "Trail of the Lonesome Pine," "Gunga Din," and "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" to name a few, are now my own. As for "Beau Geste," I've lost count of how many times I have watched it. I seem to recall my first viewing. The set of foreign legion toy soldiers that followed. My pal next door had a sand box. Soon we were building our own Fort Zinderneuf and waging mock battles.Sappy, huh. Well that's okay. It's hard to embrace old movies without a little sap. But there's more to it than just nostalgia. As a child, I loved this movie for the adventure, the action, and what may be the most drop-dead eerie beginning in film history. Fifty years later, the love between brothers (I have three), between an adoptive parent and her children,and between lovers separated by time, distance, and moral dilemma are new reasons I will be screening the 1939 version this evening (not to mention one of the most odious screen villains).There will be several times when I "well up." The opening quote from Kayam (or the Koran) is a slam dunk. The first viking funeral not so much, though it use to tear me up as a child. The death of Beau. The second death second funeral, and the reading of his letter.If you've made it this far without an insulin shot, and are under the age of forty, I challenge you to come up with films made since 1980 that you feel will have this kind of hold on you when you're sixty. If you're having trouble thinking of any, I suggest you investigate some of the classics of the '30's and '40's. Hell, even a silent flick or two. How else are you going to pass the lasting beauty of film down to your children? Some closing observations in comparing the silent version and first remake of "Beau Geste:" (1) Wow what a difference a soundtrack makes! I'm talking orchestration not dialogue, the silent DVD version I now own having a typical, and possibly original, score. I can hear that awesomely spooky and provocative music from the '39 film and I have yet to put the DVD in! Then again, think of your favorite films, then try to identify one with a score you don't find incredible! 2) Watching Ronald Colman act, I started to believe I was actually hearing him! Kinda like a foreign language film where halfway in you think you now know the language. That remarkable "Prisoner of Zenda" voice spoke to me. But had I not known Colman, would his performance have seemed so powerful? I'll never know.(3) Victor McLaglen plays one of the American legionnaires. Small role notwithstanding, I kept seeing him as one of the sergeants in "Gunga Din." Same mischievous grin and infectious laughter you could only imagine. Same happy-go-lucky Irishman though younger and thinner.