John Ford- The Lost Patrol (1934)

[ethanedwards]

LOST PATROL

DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD
PRODUCED BY MERIAN C. COOPER/ /CLIFF REID/ JOHN FORD
RKO RADIO PICTURES



Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
A World War I British Army patrol is crossing the Mesopotomian desert
when their commanding officer, the only one who knows their destination
is killed by the bullet of unseen bandits.
The patrol's sergeant keeps them heading north on the assumption
that they will hit their brigade.
They stop for the night at an oasis and awake the next morning to find their horses stolen,
their sentry dead, the oasis surrounded and survival difficult.
Written by Erik Gregersen

Full Cast
Victor McLaglen ... The Sergeant
Boris Karloff ... Sanders
Wallace Ford ... Morelli
Reginald Denny ... Brown
J.M. Kerrigan ... Quincannon
Billy Bevan ... Hale
Alan Hale ... Cook
Brandon Hurst ... Bell
Douglas Walton ... Pearson
Sammy Stein ... Abelson
Howard Wilson ... Aviator
Paul Hanson ... MacKay
Abdullah Abbas ... Last Arab (uncredited)
Frank Baker ... Rescue Patrol Colonel / Arab Shot By Sergeant (uncredited)
Neville Clark ... Lieutenant Hawkins (uncredited)
Francis Ford ... Arab (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Dudley Nichols (screenplay)
Garrett Fort (adaptation)
Philip MacDonald (story "Patrol")

Original Music
Max Steiner

Cinematography
Harold Wenstrom

Trivia
Victor McLaglen, who plays The Sergeant, is the brother of Cyril McLaglen, who played The Sergeant in the earlier 1929 version of this film.

McLaglen actually served with the Irish Fusiliers in Mesopotamia (Modern Iraq) during World War I at the same time this story takes place. He eventually rose to be Provost Martial of Baghdad.

Composer Max Steiner re-used the main title music he wrote for this film for the main title music for Casablanca, albeit with a slightly different tempo and instrumentation.

The release of the almost complete version on DVD allows viewers to compare it with the edited 1949 re-release, occasionally shown on Turner Classic Movies. Eliminated in the shorter version is an early shot of Karloff with a book of poetry about the desert, Hanson's reminiscing about Kerrigan's and Hale's earlier days in the service, and McLaglen and Ford sharing cigarettes and recalling their wives and sweethearts. Apparently, a boxing match between Hale and Stein immediately following the death of Bevan, before they all draw lots, is still missing.

Director John Ford's older brother Francis appears in an uncredited role.

According to Karloff biographer Peter Underwood the temperature on the Yuma locations could be as hot as 150 degrees and actors were limited to working two hours a day.

Goofs
Revealing mistakes
As the plane is circling the encampment, you can see tire marks in the sand.

Filming Locations
Buttercup Dunes, Imperial County, California, USA
Yuma, Arizona, USA

[ethanedwards]

The Lost Patrol is a 1934 war film made by RKO.
It was directed and produced by John Ford,
with Merian C. Cooper as executive producer and Cliff Reid as associate producer.
The screenplay was by Dudley Nichols, adapted by Garrett Fort
from the novel Patrol by Philip MacDonald.
The music score was by Max Steiner
and the cinematography by Harold Wenstrom.

The film is a remake of a 1929 British silent film,
directed and written by Walter Summers
and based on the same novel, which coincidentally starred
Victor McLaglen's younger brother Cyril McLaglen in the lead role.
The film starred Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff, Wallace Ford,
Reginald Denny, J.M. Kerrigan, and Alan Hale.
Max Steiner received a nomination for the Academy Award
for Original Music Score.
It was filmed in the Algodones Dunes of California.

User Review

Despite some flaws, the film still delivers an emotional feeling of helplessness.
3 October 1998 | by Arthur Hausner (ahausner16@gmail.com) (Pine Grove, California)

John Ford's critically acclaimed film has lost some of its punch,
but still delivers an emotional feeling of helplessness,
as the lost patrol is menaced by unseen Arabs, and are picked off one by one until few are left.
That feeling is reinforced when a rescue airplane lands and the pilot,
unaware of the danger, cavalierly walks toward the men,
who try to signal him to take cover.
But there are bit too many dead spots between the action sequences.
And Boris Karloff tends to overact his religious fanatic role,
which got on everyone's nerve, including mine.
Still, the film is beautifully photographed and has a good Max Steiner score.

[chester7777]

Again, Amazon.com has this as a DVD, and in a set with other hard to get John Ford oldies at THIS location.

Chester

[Hawkswill]

Rare 11x14 portrait of VICTOR MCLAGLEN in Ford's THE LOST PATROL (1934)

[The Tennesseean]

Speaking of getting on everyone's nerves (including mine), Arthur Hausner's review got on it, rolled around on it with unrelenting pretentiousness, and just didn't make sense...

[Hawkswill]

Speaking of getting on everyone's nerves (including mine), Arthur Hausner's review got on it, rolled around on it with unrelenting pretentiousness, and just didn't make sense...

Sorry there Russ, you TOTALLY lost me. Review on what? Thanks, KP Never mind, found the review below!