Lost Command *** (1966, Anthony Quinn, Alain Delon, George Segal, Michèle Morgan, Maurice Ronet, Claudia Cardinale, Grégoire Aslan, Jean Servais) – Classic Movie Review 8253

A fine international, though mostly French, cast all do their stirring stuff for the 1954 French-Algerian conflict in producer-director Mark Robson’s well-staged 1966 action-adventure film Lost Command, with a strong pro-peace message and dashes of romance.

There is a whiff of pretentiousness in Nelson Gidding’s screenplay, based on the novel The Centurions by Jean Larteguy, but it is intelligent and its heart is in the right liberal-minded place. The action scenes are exciting and Robson directs tautly and dynamically.

Anthony Quinn gives a lusty, lip-smacking performance as the bad guy, Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Raspeguy, in charge of a French paratroop patrol for all the wrong reasons – his own reputation and to win the love of the Countess Natalie de Clairefons (Michèle Morgan). Also in the alluring star cast are Alain Delon as Captain Phillipe Esclavier, George Segal as Lieutenant Mahidi, Maurice Ronet as Captain Boisfeuras, Claudia Cardinale as Aicha, Grégoire Aslan as Dr Ali Ben Saad and Jean Servais as General Melies.

Robert Surtees’s cinematography and Franz Waxman’s score help make up an impressive package.

It is made in Spain in the Roma Studios, Madrid; Adra, Almería; Manzanares el Real, Madrid; and Málaga, Andalucía.

Also in the cast are Maurice Sarfati, Jean-Claude Bercq, Jacques Marin, Sly Lamont, Andrés Monreal, Gordon Heath, Burt Kwouk, Marie Burke and Jean-Paul Moulinot.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8253

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com