Main Cast: Ann-Margret, Marty Feldman, Michael York, Peter Ustinov, James Earl Jones
Release Year: 1977
Country: US
Run Time: 84 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Beau Geste, the classic adventure story of a young man's dangerous journeys as part of the French Foreign Legion, becomes the subject of broad parody in this slapstick comedy. The original tale, best known to film lovers from William Wellman's 1939 classic, tells of several brothers who join the Foreign Legion after claiming responsibility for the mysterious disappearance of an invaluable family heirloom. Eventually, brothers Beau and Digby find themselves in conflict with their vicious commander, leading to a potential mutiny. The plot here is similar, with Michael York assuming Gary Cooper's role as Beau, and first-time director Marty Feldman co-starring as Digby. However, following the lead of former collaborator Mel Brooks, Feldman plays strictly for laughs, loading the story with jokes ranging from the satirical to the vulgar. A cast of notables keeps things lively, with Peter Ustinov and Ann-Margret mocking their own images as the sadistic commander and lusty Geste stepmother. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
There are a number of very funny moments in The Last Remake of Beau Geste, some so amusing that it makes the viewer regret that the film as a whole is just barely adequate. As might be expected, given director/writer/star Marty Feldman's appearances in Young Frankenstein and Silent Movie, Geste's humor is very much in the Mel Brooks mode. If that means that it is wild, silly, irreverent, and ribald, it also means that it is terribly hit-and-miss, with the misses far outweighing the hits herein. Geste also suffers from a script that has only the barest hint of a plot, is totally unfocused, and features numerous sequences that could be cut without any harm to the film as a whole. Still, there are those highlights -- particularly the jail break scene, the wall safe, and Sergeant Markov's collection of prosthetics -- that do come along often enough to provide a few guffaws. The quality of the script hampers many of the very fine cast, but Peter Ustinov is excellent, Michael York surprisingly at ease, and Ann-Margret delightful. Feldman himself comes and goes and unfortunately doesn't have sufficient star presence to hold the film together. A disappointment, but it is the kind of film that's good to watch while doing something else, so that the viewer can catch the good parts and ignore everything else. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Trevor Howard - Sir Hector Geste; Henry Gibson - Gen. Pecheur; Roy Kinnear - Cpl. Bodlini; Spike Milligan - Crumble; Avery Schreiber - Used Camel Salesman; Hugh Griffith - Judge; Irene Handl - Miss Wormwood; Sinéad Cusack - Isabel Geste; Philip Bollard - Young Beau, Age 6; Nicholas Bridge - Young Beau, Age 12; Bekki Bridge - Young Isabel; Martin Snaric - Valentino; Ed McMahon - Arab Horseman; Ted Cassidy - Blindman; Burt Kwouk - Father Shapiro; Stephen Lewis - Henshaw; Michael McConkey - Young Digby; Gwen Nelson - Lady in Courtroom; Henry Polic II - Capt. Merdmanger; Terry-Thomas - Prison Governor; Roland MacLeod - Dr. Crippen; Val Pringle - Dostoyevsky
Credit
Leslie Dilley - Art Director, May Routh - Costume Designer, Ron Beck - Costume Designer, Tom Joyner - First Assistant Director, Marty Feldman - Director, Jim Clark - Editor, Arthur Schmidt - Editor, John Morris - Composer (Music Score), Del Armstrong - Makeup, Brian Eatwell - Production Designer, Gerry Fisher - Cinematographer, George Shapiro - Producer, Howard West - Producer, Bernard Williams - Producer, William S. Gilmore - Producer, Roger Christian - Set Designer, Albert J. Whitlock - Special Effects, Peter Sutton - Sound/Sound Designer, Buddy Van Horn - Stunts Coordinator, Marty Feldman - Screenwriter, Sam Bobrick - Screenwriter, Chris Allen - Screenwriter
The Last Remake of Beau Geste is a 1977 American historicalcomedy film. It starred and was also directed and co-written by Marty Feldman. It is a satire loosely based on the novel Beau Geste, a frequently-filmed story of brothers and their adventures in the French Foreign Legion. The humor is based heavily upon wordplay and absurdity. Feldman plays Digby Geste, the awkward and clumsy "identical twin" brother of Michael York's Beau, the dignified, aristocratic swashbuckler.
Marty Feldman was disappointed with the print distributed in theaters because the studio edited its own version. Attempts have been made to have the director's cut restored, but so far these have proved fruitless. According to Michael York, "Marty's version was much funnier."[citation needed]
