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MovieMail's Review
MovieMail exclusive - Rick Burin takes his marching orders from this influential mixture of action, suspense and character drama that's as gruff, tough and sentimental as its great director.
Mesopotamia, 1917. A shot rings out and a soldier slumps from his horse, dead. With him go the patrol’s orders. Detached from their brigade, and soon pinned down to a remote oasis, this ragtag band of British soldiers wages war against an unseen enemy, while driven mad by fear, stifling heat and the death of their comrades.
This is John Ford’s The Lost Patrol, an enduringly influential mixture of action, suspense and character drama that’s as gruff, tough and sentimental as the great filmmaker himself.
Victor McLaglen leads a powerful ensemble as the unnamed, practical sergeant, with Boris Karloff delivering an enormous performance as Sanders, a quivering, wild-eyed religious fanatic with a voice to match.
Though a remake, the film has a heightened, Fordian feel throughout, both in its thematic preoccupations – stoicism, family and common humanity – and its presentation, with several scenes of visual poetry that are among the director’s best.
Its influence can be seen in everything from Seven Samurai to B Westerns, while even Ford himself borrowed from it in fashioning his masterpiece, The Searchers.
John Ford’s epic story of boiling passions amongst the burning sands, in which twelve battered, fighting men battle it out to the death. Set during the First World War, a small British Army group is set out on a mission to the Mesopotamian desert but disaster strikes when their commanding officer is shot by an Arab sniper. Unaware of their intended destination, their Sergeant (Victor McLagen) takes charge and decides to head north to meet up with their brigade.
Sheltering at an oasis, they wake up the next morning to discover their lookout dead and their camp surrounded by Arab tribesmen. Left at the mercy of the Arabs and being slowly picked off one-by-one, the men begin to crack under the desert heat and life-or-death situation. As their supplies run low Sanders (Boris Karloff) begins to doubt his sanity but unbeknownst to the soldiers a rescue patrol is only days away...
One of the most celebrated (and intense) films of its era makes a welcome appearance, looking splendid in its latest transfer. A particular appeal of the film is the a... more >
One of the most celebrated (and intense) films of its era makes a welcome appearance, looking splendid in its latest transfer. A particular appeal of the film is the appearance of Boris Karloff, excellent here in his non-horror role as a religious fanatic, before the demands of typecasting ensure that roles of this type were to be few and far between for him. < less
