This couldn't have been the first of the genre but it may be the most popular and still packs a wallop despite the familiarity of the plot. In brief, a British patrol of some half dozen men are lost in the Arabian desert in World War I. They are stuck in an oasis with plenty of water and dates but no hope. One by one, they're picked off by unseen enemy snipers until only Victor McLaglen, the top sergeant, is left.
In these movies, there are always a couple of adumbrations of tragedy. First of all, you don't want to be the officer who's in charge. He's always the first one to get it. Second, never climb a tree in a war movie. Third, if the camera moves in on you and allows you to express your deepest thoughts to a comrade, even if those thoughts are shallow, you'd better make sure your life insurance policy is up to date. Fourth, you may or may not survive, but, since you're the last man alive, you'll have plenty of automatic weapons around to slaughter the enemy when they finally confront you.
The musical score is by Max Steiner and the movie was shot near Yuma, California, in 1933, only a few years after sound was introduced, so there's hardly a moment without music behind it. If there is a shot of a Scotsman standing guard at the edge of the oases, you will hear bagpipes. The music is what was known as "Mickey Mouse music" because if, say, Mickey Mouse took a tumble down the stairs, the music followed him down -- plunk plunk plunk -- into the lower register, emphasizing the action on the screen. "King Kong" was full of it too.
"The Lost Patrol" established a genre in which the company is slowly whittled down by a faceless enemy. It was a good formula, and you can see it used to good effect in "Bataan" in 1942. In "The Lost Patrol," McLaglen survives and is rescued by the cavalry but that was okay because, after all, the Allies won World War I. I'm afraid in "Bataan" there are no survivors, but then the message in 1942 was no longer "we won" but rather "we will win someday." (Kids: 1942 was a terrible year for the Allies, who were then fighting what was called "World War II." We were not winning. There was some question of whether we WOULD win, so movies advised us to hang in there together despite setbacks. Got it? Fine.) In "Red River," the director Howard Hawks commented on a funeral scene that he held up shooting for a few minutes until the shadow of a cloud passed over the mourners. He thought it looked nice. In a voice suggesting a bit of puzzlement, he added, "John Ford does that all the time." This was directed by Ford and you can find an example of what Hawks meant when two of the soldiers pack up some canteens and trudge off into the desert to try to find help. It's a hopeless task. And as their tiny figures move away into the blinding landscape of sand dunes, a cloud shadow almost imperceptibly darkens them, prefiguring their deaths.
I've kind of made fun of "The Lost Patrol" and in fact it does look and sound a little dated, but it was fairly original at the time. Ford and his performers handle the story deftly. Nicely done job.
In these movies, there are always a couple of adumbrations of tragedy. First of all, you don't want to be the officer who's in charge. He's always the first one to get it. Second, never climb a tree in a war movie. Third, if the camera moves in on you and allows you to express your deepest thoughts to a comrade, even if those thoughts are shallow, you'd better make sure your life insurance policy is up to date. Fourth, you may or may not survive, but, since you're the last man alive, you'll have plenty of automatic weapons around to slaughter the enemy when they finally confront you.
The musical score is by Max Steiner and the movie was shot near Yuma, California, in 1933, only a few years after sound was introduced, so there's hardly a moment without music behind it. If there is a shot of a Scotsman standing guard at the edge of the oases, you will hear bagpipes. The music is what was known as "Mickey Mouse music" because if, say, Mickey Mouse took a tumble down the stairs, the music followed him down -- plunk plunk plunk -- into the lower register, emphasizing the action on the screen. "King Kong" was full of it too.
"The Lost Patrol" established a genre in which the company is slowly whittled down by a faceless enemy. It was a good formula, and you can see it used to good effect in "Bataan" in 1942. In "The Lost Patrol," McLaglen survives and is rescued by the cavalry but that was okay because, after all, the Allies won World War I. I'm afraid in "Bataan" there are no survivors, but then the message in 1942 was no longer "we won" but rather "we will win someday." (Kids: 1942 was a terrible year for the Allies, who were then fighting what was called "World War II." We were not winning. There was some question of whether we WOULD win, so movies advised us to hang in there together despite setbacks. Got it? Fine.) In "Red River," the director Howard Hawks commented on a funeral scene that he held up shooting for a few minutes until the shadow of a cloud passed over the mourners. He thought it looked nice. In a voice suggesting a bit of puzzlement, he added, "John Ford does that all the time." This was directed by Ford and you can find an example of what Hawks meant when two of the soldiers pack up some canteens and trudge off into the desert to try to find help. It's a hopeless task. And as their tiny figures move away into the blinding landscape of sand dunes, a cloud shadow almost imperceptibly darkens them, prefiguring their deaths.
I've kind of made fun of "The Lost Patrol" and in fact it does look and sound a little dated, but it was fairly original at the time. Ford and his performers handle the story deftly. Nicely done job.