Beau Geste

Beau Geste

Director: William A. Wellman

Year: 1939

Starring: Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy and Broderick Crawford

     I've stated before that I thought there weren't many war movies about the French Foreign Legion. Turns out, I was wrong. In fact, the novel this film was based on was adapted four times over a period of 57 years. This version is actually the second adaptation, the first being a silent film released in 1926. This has become the most famous version, as Gary Cooper became a huge star, winning an Academy Award not long after the release of this film. 

     The film is about three brothers, Beau (Cooper), Digby (Robert Preston) and John Geste (Ray Milland) as they run off and join the Legion to escape consequence for stealing their adoptive aunt's sapphire called "The Blue Water". The sapphire itself becomes a MacGuffin, because the entire film revolves around this particular gem. It's never clear who took it, or why, and it remains a mystery until the very end of the film. 

     While the majority of the film is set at a fort in the Morrocan desert, the film's primary emphasis is on the Geste brothers, particularly Beau, the title character. The film actually begins near the end of the film, and a string of unexplained events occur, culminating with the fort burning down. It's interesting because nothing is explained, but you want to know why. It then skips to 15 years into the past as we meet the three brothers as children. It's here we are introduced to the idea of the characters joining the Legion, and it gives us an idea who these characters are, and what role they will play later in the film.
     The film follows the brothers as they train, and become, soldiers of the Legion. Word gets out that one of the brothers is a diamond thief, and they face a lot of hostile characters. As time goes on, the soldiers plan a mutiny against their commanding officer, but the penalties are put on hold as the fort is attacked by the locals. In an enduring struggle, they hold off a very large army, and the fort starts to become familiar looking.
     At this point, it's clear that the fort seen at the beginning of the film is the same one the Geste brothers occupy. Dead soldiers are put up to look like they are still fighting, and more and more soldiers perish in the continuing battle. Finally, at the end only a few remain, and the army we saw at the beginning of the film (which contains the third of the Geste brothers, Digby, who was separated and appointed to a new unit halfway through the film), and the unexplained events finally start to make sense, and the film wraps up the rest of the story, giving it a solid, and somewhat uplifting, end.
     Beau Geste is one of the finest films about the French Foreign Legion ever made. The combat scenes, while they take a while to show up, pay off as it's as exciting as a modern war movie like Saving Private Ryan. Gary Cooper is as bad ass as he always is, and gives a remarkable performance. The film's success, and many adaptations later actually led to a parody film appropriately titled The Last Remake of Beau Geste (although the novel would be adapted one more time following this film) directed by and starring Marty Feldman in 1977. Beau Geste remains one of Gary Cooper's best roles, and a classic of the genre.