Beau Geste
At the film's world premiere, the first reel of the 1926 silent version of "Beau Geste" was shown just before the entire 1939 sound version, in an effort to demonstrate how far films had advanced in thirteen years. This almost backfired because the film apparently, followed the 1926 one extremely closely, and some of the first-night critics were annoyed, rather than pleased at this, feeling that this remake should have been more imaginative. However, this did not keep it from becoming a smash hit and a film classic.,It is night when Markoff and the others go into the barracks to stop the mutiny, but it is mid-morning when they come out.,[last lines]
[after she reads the letter Beau had written to explain what happened to the jewel - he has signed the letter with his name - she reads...]
Lady Patricia Brandon: "Beau Geste"
Lady Patricia Brandon: [to John] Beau Geste... gallant gesture. We didn't name him wrong, did we?,Opening credits prologue: "The love of a man for a woman wanes and waxes like the moon . . . but the love of brother for brother is steadfast as the stars, and endures like the word of the prophet."

. . . Arabian Proverb.,Edited into The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977),The Legionnaire's Song
(uncredited)
Music by Troy Sanders
Lyrics by Frank Loesser,A magnificent blue sapphire is stolen from the English estate of Brandon Abbas. BEAU GESTE and his two younger brothers are all suspected of the crime. To save their family from dishonor, they each make their way to join the French Foreign Legion. In the emptiness of North Africa, supported only by their love for each other, they will encounter pure evil...

Not only a wonderful adventure story, BEAU GESTE is also a morality tale on the true meaning of courage, the loyalty of brother for brother, and the responsibilities of virtue when confronted by absolute evil. Examined this way, the film can be enjoyed by the thoughtful viewer on many levels.

In the title role, Gary Cooper is excellent, exuding quiet strength & righteousness. Robert Preston & Ray Milland, as his younger brothers, give top-notch support. Here is a band of brothers to be reckoned with.

But it is the villains who really steal the show. Brian Donlevy is unforgettable as Sergeant Markoff, a sadist from the lowest depths of hell. To watch him drive the defense of his outpost, using the living & the dead, is to see a man driven mad by the evil chewing away at his very soul.

J. Carrol Naish is equally memorable as Rasinoff the rat. A little man used to lies & thievery, he becomes the natural toady for Markoff. When his fear finally drives him insane atop the watch tower, and he begins to cackle like a beast, it is a horrible sound to hear.

Broderick Crawford appears as a cowboy turned legionnaire. Albert Dekker is formidable as a mutinous soldier. Adolescent Donald O'Connor plays young Beau.

Director William Wellman gave the film fine atmospherics. Who can forget, in the very first sequence, the quiet ride up to eerie Fort Zinderneuf, manned by its unblinking sentries? The flashback scenes are rather tedious, but when the plot returns to the desert, there's adventure enough for the most jaded viewer.,