Product Details

• Actors: John Wayne, Sophia Loren, Rossano Brazzi, Kurt Kasznar, Sonia Moser
• Directors: Henry Hathaway
• Writers: Ben Hecht, Robert Presnell Jr.
• Producers: Henry Hathaway
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: April 1, 1992
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301972163
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,202 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The good news is, one of John Wayne's least-known films has been restored to widescreen splendor. The bad news is, there's a reason Legend of the Lost has gone mostly unshown: it's a grievously misbegotten movie. Oh, the credits get you jumping: Wayne and international love goddess Sophia Loren under the direction of Henry Hathaway, with a Ben Hecht script and Technicolor camerawork by Jack (The Red Shoes) Cardiff. But Wayne is miscast as a raffish mercenary hired to guide French spiritualist Rossano Brazzi into the Sahara, where Brazzi's father disappeared searching for a lost city. And nothing sparks between the Duke and Loren, as a Timbuktu prostitute-pickpocket who joins the expedition because Brazzi speaks to her soul. There's little action, much turgid dialogue, and a jarring mix of Libyan locations with soundstage scenes shot back in Rome. Add a music score that sounds as if it belongs on a sci-fi film and you've got one bizarre movie. Still, Wayne completists should check it out, and Cardiff's cinematography is, as usual, ravishing. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating hokum, November 8, 2002

By 

Susan Fong (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legend of the Lost [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Legend of the Lost" is a morality tale of sorts which follows the journey of three disparate souls searching for lost treasure in the vast Sahara Desert. The trio is comprised of Joe January, played by John Wayne, who is a hard living, hard drinking guide; Paul Bonnard, a would-be missionary played by Rossano Brazzi; and Dita, portrayed by Sophia Loren, who is a prostitute and petty thief transformed by Paul's piety.

The sought-after treasure was originally discovered by Paul's father. But when it is revealed that his father is not the saint Paul thought him to be, Paul is corrupted. Greed and lust overtake him eventually leading to tragedy.

Paul's instantaneous and wicked conversion seems somewhat preposterous as he had purportedly lived a virtuous life up until the discovery of the treasure and the remains of his father. The entire plot strains credibility.

But it is the motley and gifted cast that fascinates. Wayne's Joe January is a crude, hard-bitten soul. But underneath that rough exterior, you know that he is a decent man especially since he is portrayed by Duke Wayne. Wayne has a reassuringly quiet strength and an unselfconscious vulnerability that always make his characterizations believable. Wayne's characters are strong men, but not super men (ala Schwarzenegger or Stallone). His characters are realistic. They can be brought down, hurt, and compromised.

Rossano Brazzi gives an almost giddy, operatic interpretation of a good man gone bad. It's amusing to watch his character degenerate. And Sophia Loren has an untamed beauty and wild impetuousness which is electrifying.

So perhaps one can forgive the hokey plot of "Legend of the Lost", the occasional poor sound quality, and the rather cheesy musical score. It is the charismatic, talented cast and the magnificently sun-drenched, barren landscape of the Sahara Desert that make this movie rather thrilling and worth your time.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strange movie invites unfairly harsh criticism, February 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Legend of the Lost (1957) (DVD)

I had just seen Houseboat and really wanted to catch another Sophia flick. There is a criminal lack of her movies on DVD. With all the harsh criticisms of this movie, I bought it hesitantly only because I couldn't find many Sophia movies. There's a strange flavor to this movie, almost as if something about it was experimental. And the score is just plain weird. The story doesn't have a strong punch line by the end, but it does come to a logical conclusion that some may not find satisfying, but I did.

The best part of the movie were the good lines they gave John Wayne and the great comic timing with which he delivered them. In this movie he seems to have perfected the kind of character Harrison Ford played in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. While Sophia Loren is breathtakingly beautiful, with her talent and ability to project personality, she would still be fun to watch even if she was as plain as a blank sheet of paper. (Thank goodness she is gorgeous, though.)

Maybe what disappoints some people is that this movie appears to set itself up to be a wild action adventure, but instead this is more of a character development story before the time this kind of thing was popular in the late 1960's and early 1970's. It's a good movie to display some of the Duke's abilities to display the kind of character he often plays from a different perspective. And of course, Sophia is Sophia, bless her heart, and the packaging it comes in.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pretty Good Flic, March 22, 2005

By 

Robert Busko (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Legend of the Lost (1957) (DVD)

I first saw this movie when I was 10 and was completely captivated. Of course, I've seen this movie on tv multiple times over the years and I never fail to fall under the movie's spell.

John Wayne as Joe January, drunken guide. Sophia Loren as Dita, a prostitute...do they ever look this good? Brazzi as a starry eyed treasure hunter and do-gooder. What a package. Henry Hathaway did a terrific job directing and Jack Cardiff does a terrific job with the photography.

Unlike other reviewers I think the soundtrack is perfectly aligned with the movie. The movie uses the desert as a fourth character. In the movie the desert is set up to be a strange and eerie place, especially the lost city they eventually end up in. Lost city, lost treasure, and finally a betrayl. The music supports this very well.

I give this movie pretty high marks. The story line is very credible. Brazzi's character shows up wanting to go into the desert to search for his father. Waynes character is hired. Before they can leave, Brazzi charms Sohia Loren's character and she manages to show up in the desert at Wayne's and Brazzi's first camp, escorted by desert nomads. Together the three travel the desert. They eventually end up out of water and stumble into a lost city, the real goal of Brazzi. Given some of the trite and predictable movies touted as good cinema today, even this movie makes them look pale.

Watch the movie for yourself. Unless you're one of those people that has to have a movie loaded with special effects, you should enjoy the experience.