1955's "Desert Sands" is a long forgotten United Artists programmer benefiting from its colorful action sequences. The legendary John Carradine stands out in a decent cast, as Arab wine merchant Jala, who ruthlessly targets his own brother for murder, done by marauders disguised as French Legionnaires. His niece (Marla English) and nephew (Keith Larsen) grow up just as he wanted, hating the French and constantly in attack mode. Keith Larsen's career virtually tanked by the next decade, such titles as "Women of the Prehistoric Planet" and "The Omegans" giving way to self-directed items like "Mission Batangas," "The Trap on Cougar Mountain," "Run to the High Country," "Young and Free," "Whitewater Sam," and his cult classic "Night of the Witches." In between hard bitten turns in "Big House, U. S. A." and the iconic "Kiss Me Deadly" (as Mike Hammer), Ralph Meeker actually gets to play a more likable hero. In just her second starring role, the gorgeous Marla English disappeared from the screen as quickly as she lit the fire, in a pair of low budget AIP horrors, "The She-Creature" and "Voodoo Woman." Philip Tonge would reunite with Carradine in his last film, 1959's "Invisible Invaders," but this was John's final appearance opposite J. Carrol Naish, from "Ramona," "Blood and Sand," "Waterfront," and "House of Frankenstein."

This military adventure/romance contains some mildly interesting action footage of battle scenes, but on the whole, is so poorly cast with Arabs who resemble California beach boys and the biggest array of phony accents you can ever imagine anyone assembling. There is really only one character who is remotely plausible as a Frenchman and very few who are plausible as Arabs. The absurdity of the film is further compounded by stilted, cliché-ridden dialogue and a romantic interest by the Arab heroine that strains credulity, to say the least. All of this results in an unintentionally laughable and ludicrous film which irreparably spoils any chance of the viewer being swept away by its pathetic pretense at being an adventure epic and grand romance. A Lawrence of Arabia or Beau Geste it is not! Positive reviewers are obviously delusionally waxing nostalgic from their memories as 8 year old viewers.

I am amazed as I watch this film, as it sure doesn't seem anything like the other reviews have described. They are all quite glowing in the film's praise--saying it's the best of the Foreign Legion films and filled with excitement. Were we watching the same film?! "Desert Sands" is a terrible film--not at all convincing and, in some ways, rather silly. My biggest complaints are the casting and the the writing. Among the cast, there is no one who seems the least bit French but even more importantly, there's no one who seems remotely North African! Now perhaps you could explain the troops not being French because it's the FOREIGN Legion...but the North Africans are all very white and some (particularly the leader) sound as if they were educated at prep school! It's utterly ridiculous and sloppy...very, very sloppy. As for the writing, it's bad--particularly when it comes to dialog. None of it sounds the least bit realistic and is filled with clichés. This is a bad movie! The bottom line is that there are LOTS of better desert films--such as "Beau Gest", "The Lost Patrol"....even "Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion"!! I just think this is a terrible film--one that inexplicably is adored by some others.

An exciting adventure film, with good battle scenes, interesting characters, stirring renditions of "Le Boudin" (the signature march of the Legion) and the little known and sexy Elizabeth Taylor lookalike Marla English, as the "Arab" princess. It seems like the Legion outpost is a modified "wild west" set and Marla and her maidservant's costumes appear to be reworked Mexican cowgirl outfits. Entirely apropos for the unintentionally hilarious love scenes with the Legion commandant (Ralph Meeker). Her brother, the sheikh, has a prep school accent, but it's not quite as bad as the Brooklynese dialect of Richard Conte's villain sheikh in 1953's "Desert Legion" ("Det ta da lejun!"). Mama Mia!!The legionnaires are uncharacteristically complacent. After all, this is 1955 and the tribes just don't surround and attack Legion forts a la Beau Geste anymore. Not! They get a rude awakening when Marla and her brother; who believe their father was murdered by the French; unite the desert tribes and wipe out a column of legionnaires. The film does have some reality deficits. Even though it is the 1950s there isn't a motor vehicle in sight, although the new commandant arrives at the fort by helicopter, and the radio man is building a television set. The rifles carried by the legionnaires were over 20 years out of date at the time, and rifle grenades can't blow up buildings. But, this is an escapist actioner with some unintended laughs thrown in, not a History Channel Special. In that respect, it really hits the spot. It even begins with a sultry, James Bondish theme song!I recently saw this movie for the first time since the early 70s (on TMC) and I find it hard to believe that it was never put on commercial video.