Customer Reviews

Beau Geste [VHS]

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Beau Geste" is a magnificent adventure story for any age group and the 1939 version, Mr. Maltin's opinion not withstanding, is probably the best version of this tale I have ever seen. The cast is top-notch and the action never wavers. This is a film that I grew up with and it is one that can withstand the years. Above all, it is so much better than the 1966 version--please see this incredible film!

Since 1926, there have been three Beau Geste films, plus one TV miniseries and a Marty Feldman spoof called THE LAST REMAKE OF BEAU GESTE (1977). It's not as amusing as the latter, yet the 1939 PARAMOUNT edition of "Beau" is far and away the finest of the lot.

William Wellman's picture (loosely based on the 1924 P.C. Wren novel) is in part a who-dun-it but primarily an adventure yarn. The story begins with all the men stationed at a desert fort lying dead from combat. A letter confessing to a crime is found on the body of one of them.

Flashback to Michael ("Beau") and his brothers as children (Beau is portrayed by 12-year-old Donald O'Connor). The three orphaned Gestes and Isabel Rivers were adopted when very young by the boys' aunt, Lady Patricia Brandon. They all live at Brandon Abbas with Aunt Pat and her son Augustus.

In raising the four adoptees, Aunt Pat exhausts her estate's finances. To pay debts she determines to sell a family heirloom, the Blue Water sapphire but first Pat shows it to all for the last time. The lights suddenly go out and when they're restored, it's discovered that Lady Brandon's precious gem has vanished. Suspicion falls on the three Gestes, so the young men join the French Foreign Legion to escape accusations or embarrassment.

The Saharan portion of this film is the lion's share. We meet several members of the Gestes' outpost. Later attacks by Arabs make it clear that their fort is doomed-- the only question is when all will die. The Legionnaires' valiant struggle against daunting odds is one you won't soon forget. A great cast, story and cinematography make this Beau Geste a genuine classic, and one of the best films of that superlative year of 1939.


Related item:
"Beau Geste" is also available on UNIVERSAL/MCA's bargain-priced GARY COOPER COLLECTION, along with four others: "Design for Living" (1933), "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" (1935), "Peter Ibbetson" (1935) and "The General Died at Dawn" (1936).


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(7.9) Beau Geste (1939) - Gary Cooper/Ray Milland/Robert Preston/Brian Donlevy/Susan Hayward/J. Carrol Naish/Albert Dekker/Broderick Crawford/Charles Barton/Donald O'Connor

Beau Geste, a melodramatic 1939 period piece depicts the comradery of three brothers during Victorian times. It falls short of a 5 star rating as it lacks the high degree of drama seen in similar type classics such as Gunga Din and Four Feathers.

The wholesome Gary Cooper along with Robert Preston and Ray Milland play three brothers, Beau, Digby and John Geste, adopted into the affluent baronial lifestyle of English Lord and Lady Brandon. When the lord threatens to sell the family's most precious possession, the Blue Water, a huge cerulean sapphire, to finance his gambling, one of the brothers absconds with it. In a chivalrous gesture the three brothers flee and enlist in the French Foreign Legion and get shipped to North Africa.

While in the foreign legion they are cruelly commanded by star of the movie Brian Donlevy, who plays the facially scarred, sadistic heavy Sergeant Markoff. The brothers strive to survive the elements, the Arabs and Markoff while they protect the secret of the prized sapphire.

The flick is hopelessly dated but still remains hugely entertaining to a classic movie buff. A youthful and ravishing Susan Hayward plays Milland's love interest, Isobel Rivers, a ward of Lady Brandon in one of her earliest starring roles.

Absolutely the definitive film version of the book by the same name. When their parents die the 3 Geste boys (Beau, Digby, & John) are adopted by a wealthy family. When a valuable diamond disappears the boys join the Foreign Legion and fight the Arabs in North Africa. Part mystery, part action adventure/war movie this movie is well worth viewing. Very good performances by Gary Cooper (Beau), Robert Preston (Digby), Ray Milland (John), and Brian Donlevy (Markoff the Sgt.). Good supporting cast....LOTS of action and suspense.....5 STAR CLASSIC...!!

This is one of the best adventure movies I've ever seen. The characters are interesting and the story is terrific, with some surprising twists. Recent-day movies are pathetic in comparison with this one.

Beau Geste is one of my favourites, it has everything you need to have a perfect story Gary Cooper and Ray Milland and Robert Preston act perfectly as Beau Geste has laughter and sadness and it is a film you can watch time after time Beau Geste is cleverly written as each event happens. This galent novel is charming because each small sentance makes you want to see more!
As I said Beau Geste is fantasticly wrote and I enjoy seeing each part as it comes!

I first saw this movie as a child in the early 60's, on a Saturday matinee TV show while my kid brother and I were chowing down on my mom's home made donuts. It ranks right up there with every Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, and Bogie movie ever. If you love classic war movies, or even classic movies in general, it can't get any better than this. Four thumbs up! (I'm voting for my brother too.)

"Beau Geste", (the 1939 film version) is a charming adventure focused on the brothers Geste. It has mystery and adventure packed into a film full of famous former stars. The film starts by showing the three Geste brothers growing up and being raised as adopted wards by a kindly upper-crust English woman, Lady Patricia Brandon (Heather Thatcher) The estate is called Brandon Abbas, and has room to wander and play, with scenic views and a castle-like home. Lady Patricia has also adopted a young girl named Isobel Rivers (Ann Gillis as a child) and raises her own son Augustus ("Gussie") Brandon (David Holt as a child). The boys like to play soldier and have toy sailing ships firing at each other on a pond The young boys make-believe a Viking funeral . John asks that his brothers remember that he wishes to be treated like a Viking when he dies. They set the toy ship on fire with a dog at the sailor's feet, like a Viking. They remember John's wish..

Lady Brandon has spent most of the estate on raising the children and upkeep. Her remaining fortune is based upon the possession of a family jewel and heirloom, a magnificent sapphire called the "Blue Water." She has kept this in secret hiding area like a mother hen. It is a mysterious room behind the fireplace. She notes to a friend that this is where Catholic priests were hidden to escape Cromwell's persecution. Soon she gets a note from her no-good husband, Sir Hector Brandon, that he has spent the entire family fortune. He has gambled away everything. The valuable stone is worth 30,000 pounds.

As a child, Beu is playing a game and in a Knight's Armour when he overhears his Aunt Patricia has sold the valuable gem to an Arab to pay for the children's education. Many twists and turns ensue.

The film then shows the children have grown up to handsome adults. The stars are now:

· Beau (Gary Cooper)

· Digby (Robert Preston)

· John (Ray Milland)

· Isobel (Susan Hayward)

· Augustus (G.P. Huntley, Jr.)



Overall the story is a bit melodramatic, and promotes the virtues of trust, self-sacrifice, loyalty and patriotic honor. The mystery of the missing "Blue Water" is also very intriguing.

I first saw this movie as a child, and like many others, never forgot the images of the dead soldiers at the fort, the cruelty of Markov, or the gallantry of the Geste brothers. I went on to read the book and its two sequels (which tell what REALLY happened to the Blue Water) which are dated but none the less riveting (and amusing). The author, P.C. Wren, really was an officer in the Foreign Legion, and claimed that everything he wrote was grounded in the experience of people he knew. As for the movie, my only complaint is that such very American actors were chose to play such charming young Englishmen (and were a bit old for their roles), but it is a very minor complaint, since there is nothing to fault in their performances. Otherwise, the movie spoiled me for every other Foreign Legion film I have ever seen. It could perhaps stand a remake - but only in the hands of a great director (as great as the original William Wellman) who respected his source material and didn't try to turn it into a brainless "action" film. (And it has been tried.) As others have pointed out, the wonderfully atmospheric black and white photography and the music add to the film's perfection.

This classic movie holds up pretty well to the basic storyline of Wren's novel. A few subtle changes have been made because no movie can ever reproduce a book perfectly, but everything has been done faithfully to the spirit of the original story. Readers of the book will find that the evil sarjeant is named Markov in the movie as opposed to Lajeaune in the book. The name sounds more evil perhaps! A few minor quibbles I have with the movie is that it has that 1930s Hollywood feel to it, in terms of the acting and characterizations. It would have been nice to have heard French commands in the Legion as opposed to flat American voices. Later Foreign Legion movies like "March or Die" provide this kind of detail which this classic lacks. Also, in the attacks on the fort the Arabs look foolish charging with cavalry against walls that are too high. In the book the fort's walls are described as being lower so that someone climbing up from a camel's back could almost succeed with an escalade. In the book John, Digby and their two American friends wander in the desert in Arab guise for several years. This is rather condensed in the film. The impossible shot that kills Digby from horse-back is more realistically described in the book where John relays that the Arab fired from his horse at 30 feet striking Digby as he played his bugle. A more realistic scenerio I find. Of course these are minor quibbles, none of which detract from the beauty and haunting nature of the movie. The music is also striking, in particular the opening scene when we see the dead Legioners manning the fort's walls. That scene is probably one of the most haunting in all movies, and conveys so much without being overly graphic. This is probably the best Foreign Legion movie that will ever be made. All since have been based on it. Since Four Feathers has recently survived another re-make I wonder if Beau Geste is due for another attempt? Arabs, sand and desert battles seem to be compelling these days. I wonder why?