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Legend of the Lost (1957) by Henry Hathaway
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DVD Cover InformationActor: John Wayne, Kurt Kasznar, Rossano Brazzi, Sonia Moser, Sophia Loren Director: Henry Hathaway Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed) Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 2.35:1 Running Time: 118 minutes DVD Release Date: 2002-12-03 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Legend of the Lost (1957)Movie Review: A VERY ATYPICAL JOHN WAYNE MOVIE Summary: 3 Stars
This is a very interesting movie, however, it is not a very good movie in that the script, if they used one, moves very slowly going almost nowhere. One of the best elements of the film is the ancient Roman city of Timgad of 100 A.D.in modern day Algeria where the film was shot. The city is one of the best examples of the Roman grid pattern of cities and was originally brought into being as a frontier bastion against the mobile Berber tribes. The city yet today retains all of it historical charm that this film exibited.
I'm old enough that I saw this movie in a regular theatre when it was released back in '57, on that fact mainly I bought a copy of the DVD, would it still be as I remembered. Yes and no. The movie is entertaining, it isn't every movie that allows one a front row seat to the Sahara desert, and one that is in living color, too. Although in shooting the movie several sound stages were also used. I noticed too the unevenness of the movie, especially in the beginning scenes, when once in the desert the acting becomes smoother. Maybe they were more tired due to the prolonged heat and didn't have the energy to overact, as some of the earlier scenes come across as somewhat contrived and shrill.
The movie for me is better than a "3" and not quite a "4" rating, but given John Wayne's normal choices for making a movie, I give him credit for stepping out to do something atypical such as this. Sophia Loren is adequate in her role, with Rosanna Brazzi doing his normal fair job. The theme of looking for a "lost" city has been done many times and one would have wished they had built a little better script for this one to carry the story along.
Movie is well worth watching and is good entertainment. One cannot ask much more than that.
Semper Fi.
Summary of Legend of the Lost (1957)The good news is, one of John Wayne's least-known films has been restored to widescreen splendor. The bad news is, there's a reason Legend of the Lost has gone mostly unshown: it's a grievously misbegotten movie. Oh, the credits get you jumping: Wayne and international love goddess Sophia Loren under the direction of Henry Hathaway, with a Ben Hecht script and Technicolor camerawork by Jack (The Red Shoes) Cardiff. But Wayne is miscast as a raffish mercenary hired to guide French spiritualist Rossano Brazzi into the Sahara, where Brazzi's father disappeared searching for a lost city. And nothing sparks between the Duke and Loren, as a Timbuktu prostitute-pickpocket who joins the expedition because Brazzi speaks to her soul. There's little action, much turgid dialogue, and a jarring mix of Libyan locations with soundstage scenes shot back in Rome. Add a music score that sounds as if it belongs on a sci-fi film and you've got one bizarre movie. Still, Wayne completists should check it out, and Cardiff's cinematography is, as usual, ravishing. --Richard T. Jameson Told against the sweeping panoramas of the Sahara desert this star-studded epic features an exotic mix of action suspense and romance. Famed for its stunning (The Hollywood Reporter) location cinematography Legend of the Lost delivers a caravan of excitement with the indomitable John Wayne leading the way. Wayne is Joe January a hard-drinking hard-living guide. When Paul Bonnard (Rossano Brazzi) hires him to find his father and a legendary lost treasure the two set out into the isolated wasteland of the North African desert. Joining them is Dita (Sophia Loren) a prostitute desperate to find a new life who comes between both men as they battle for survival and their souls.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: NR UPC: 027616881496 Manufacturer No: 1004042
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