Beau Geste (Universal Backlot Series)
by William A. Wellman
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert PrestonDirector: William A. Wellman
Brand: Universal Studios
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-07-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Beau Geste (Universal Backlot Series)
Movie Review: Best Geste (forget the reste!)
Summary: 5 Stars
Since 1926, there have been three Beau Geste films, plus one TV miniseries and a Marty Feldman spoof called THE LAST REMAKE OF BEAU GESTE (1977). It's not as amusing as the latter, yet the 1939 PARAMOUNT edition of "Beau" is far and away the finest of the lot.
William Wellman's picture (loosely based on the 1924 P.C. Wren novel) is in part a who-dun-it but primarily an adventure yarn. The story begins with all the men stationed at a desert fort lying dead from combat. A letter confessing to a crime is found on the body of one of them.
Flashback to Michael ("Beau") and his brothers as children (Beau is portrayed by 12-year-old Donald O'Connor). The three orphaned Gestes and Isabel Rivers were adopted when very young by the boys' aunt, Lady Patricia Brandon. They all live at Brandon Abbas with Aunt Pat and her son Augustus.
In raising the four adoptees, Aunt Pat exhausts her estate's finances. To pay debts she determines to sell a family heirloom, the Blue Water sapphire but first Pat shows it to all for the last time. The lights suddenly go out and when they're restored, it's discovered that Lady Brandon's precious gem has vanished. Suspicion falls on the three Gestes, so the young men join the French Foreign Legion to escape accusations or embarrassment.
The Saharan portion of this film is the lion's share. We meet several members of the Gestes' outpost. Later attacks by Arabs make it clear that their fort is doomed-- the only question is when all will die. The Legionnaires' valiant struggle against daunting odds is one you won't soon forget. A great cast, story and cinematography make this Beau Geste a genuine classic, and one of the best films of that superlative year of 1939.
Related item:
"Beau Geste" is also available on UNIVERSAL/MCA's bargain-priced GARY COOPER COLLECTION, along with four others: "Design for Living" (1933), "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" (1935), "Peter Ibbetson" (1935) and "The General Died at Dawn" (1936).
Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.
(7.9) Beau Geste (1939) - Gary Cooper/Ray Milland/Robert Preston/Brian Donlevy/Susan Hayward/J. Carrol Naish/Albert Dekker/Broderick Crawford/Charles Barton/Donald O'Connor
Summary of Beau Geste (Universal Backlot Series)
Academy Award winners Gary Cooper and Ray Milland star along with Robert Preston in the epic adventure Beau Geste. When three brothers join the Foreign Legion to escape a troubled past, they find themselves trapped under the command of a sadistic sergeant deep in the scorching Sahara. Now the brothers must fight for their lives as they plot mutiny against tyranny and defend a desert fortress against a brutal enemy. Nominated for 2 Academy Awards, Beau Geste has been universally acclaimed by generations of critics and audiences alike as a true motion picture classic.Similar DVD Movies
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