The Lost Patrol **** (1934, Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff, Wallace Ford, Reginald Denny, J M Kerrigan, Billy Bevan, Alan Hale) – Classic Movie Review 3893

John Ford’s 1934 wartime adventure film tells a still stirring classic tale of a World War One British army patrol of a dozen soldiers lost in the Mesopotamian desert and facing constant sniper attacks from unseen bloodthirsty Arabs, who kill them off one at a time.

The intensity of the performances, especially from Victor McLaglen as the sergeant and Boris Karloff as Sanders the religious fanatic, conveys much of the sense of drama and desert heat.

Full marks go to screen-writers Dudley Nichols and Garrett Fort for effectively transferring the story of Philip MacDonald’s novel The Patrol to the screen and to director Ford for keeping the tension and temperature high and the direction dynamic and imaginative. There is also a notable Oscar-nominated music score from Max Steiner.

Also in the cast are Wallace Ford as Morelli, Reginald Denny as Brown, J M Kerrigan as Quincannon, Billy Bevan as Hale, Alan Hale as Cook, Francis Ford, Brandon Hurst, Douglas Walton, Sammy Stein, Howard Wilson, Neville Cook and Paul Hanson.

McLaglen also stars in Ford’s The Informer (1935).

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3893
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