Three Foreign Legionnaires (1966)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Three foreign legionaries |
| Original title | Beau gesture |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 108 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Douglas Heyes |
| script | Douglas Heyes |
| production | Walter Seltzer |
| music | Hans J. Salter |
| camera | Bud Thackery |
| cut | Russell F. Schoengarth |
| occupation | |
| |
Three Foreign Legionaries (original title: Beau Geste ) is an American adventure film by Douglas Heyes from 1966 based on a novel by Percival Christopher Wren . The film is a remake of the production of the same name from 1939 and the silent film Blutsbrüderschaft from 1926. The film premiered on September 2, 1966 in Germany.
action
To avoid punishment for a crime committed by his business partner, the American Michael Geste, known as Beau, joined the French Foreign Legion in 1906. He is ordered to Fort Zinderneuf in the Arabian desert. The fort is commanded by the sadistic and brutal Sergeant Dagineau, who accused the gesture of sending him an anonymous threatening letter. Beau, who refuses to be suppressed by the sergeant, gains respect among the other men. He soon became friends with the weak and drunken commandant Lieutenant De Ruse.
De Ruse finds out that Beau's escape was useless because his partner has now confessed to the crime. When Beau's brother John joins the Legion a short time later, the paranoid Dagineau is convinced that Beau wants to murder him. When De Ruse is injured in an attack by the Arabs and is dying, he confesses to Beau that the anonymous letter was from him. De Ruse wanted to scare Dagineau in the hope that it would make the sergeant more human.
Dagineau becomes more and more mad and tortures his men with forced marches and brutal punishments. When the Arabs start a major attack, Beau is able to suppress an uprising among the legionaries. In the ensuing battle, the legionaries are wiped out. Only Beau and Dagineau remain. A fight breaks out between the two, which Beau ends victoriously. A relief company finds him the only survivor of the attack.
background
Like its two predecessors, the Universal Studios production was shot in the Arizona desert . The film was outfitted by Henry Bumstead and Alexander Golitzen , while Rosemary Odell designed the costumes. The stunts were coordinated by Hal Needham .
Reviews
The lexicon of international films describes the film as "a harsh, but basically glorifying representation of life in the Legion". The magazine Cinema said: "This 1966 remake does not go beyond its predecessor in terms of quality, but captivates with excitingly staged battle scenes." The conclusion was: "Tough literary film adaptation with well-humored TV stars."
The industry journal Variety praised the "good presentations, fine camera work and the fast direction".
Web links
- Three Foreign Legionnaires in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Three Foreign Legionnaires. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 2, 2019 .
- ↑ See cinema.de
- ↑ See Beau Geste . In: Variety , 1966.