Main Cast: Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff, Wallace Ford, Reginald Denny, J.M. Kerrigan
Release Year: 1934
Country: US
Run Time: 66 minutes
Plot
Previously filmed in 1929, Philip MacDonald's novel Patrol was lensed by director John Ford as The Lost Patrol in 1934. Sergeant Victor McLaglen is in charge of a World War I-era British cavalry regiment, stranded somewhere in the Mesopotamian desert. McLaglen hasn't asked for the responsibility: the commanding officer has been killed by an Arab sniper, leaving McLaglen to take over. One by one, McLaglen's men are picked off as they desperately fend off the enemy, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. The most spectacular death scene goes to Boris Karloff, playing a religious zealot who goes insane and begins marching towards the Arabs while bearing a makeshift cross. Max Steiner's relentless musical theme for The Lost Patrol would later be adapted into his score for Warner Bros' Casablanca. Lost Patrol would itself be adapted as the 1939 western Bad Lands. Originally running 74 minutes, Lost Patrol is now generally available only in its 69-minute reissue form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Lost Patrol is a minor entry in the pantheon of John Ford classics, though it had a substantial influence on subsequent films. The film has a dated look and feel, even if Ford's stylistic touches are still occasionally evident. What works is Ford's ability to develop a sense of helplessness among the characters. The scene with the rescue pilot is exceptional, and Max Steiner's score is among the best of his prolific career. The film also features one of the few bad performances by Boris Karloff, whose overwritten fanatical character is too blatantly symbolic. The film's best parts convey the bleak futility of warfare. At other times, the story tries too hard to create an anti-religious counterpoint. Nonetheless, its good parts are very good, and the story of survival in combat against overwhelming odds has been imitiated to the point of becoming an action-film sub-genre. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
The Lost Patrol is a 1934war 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 1929British silent film, directed and written by Walter Summers and based on the same novel, which coincidentally starred Victor McLaglen's older brother Cyril McLaglen in the lead role.
During World War I, the commanding officer of a small British patrol in the Mesopotamian desert is shot and killed by an unseen Arab sniper, leaving the Sergeant (Victor McLaglen) at a loss, since he had not been informed what their mission was. He decides to try to rejoin the brigade, even though he does not know where they are or where he is.
Eventually, the eleven men reach an oasis. During the night, one of the sentries is killed, the other seriously wounded, and all their horses are stolen, leaving them stranded. One by one, the remaining men are picked off by the unseen enemy. In desperation, the Sergeant sends two men chosen by lot on foot for help, but they are caught and tortured to death, before their bodies are sent back. The pilot of a British biplane spots the survivors, but nonchalantly lands nearby and is killed before he can be warned. The men take the machine gun from the plane and set the plane on fire in a desperate bid to attract British troops. Sanders (Boris Karloff), a religious fanatic, goes mad.
In the end, only the Sergeant is left. When the Arabs finally show themselves, he manages to kill them all with the machine gun he took from the airplane. Moments later, another British patrol arrives, attracted by the smoke from the burning plane.
