The Lost Patrol (1934) Director: John Ford
“Tie ‘im up Morelli! Tie ‘im up before I kill ‘im!”
One of John Ford’s personal favorites of his filmography, The Lost Patrol (1934) is a World War I adventure in the Arabian desert that sees a British cavalry outfit entrapped and surrounded by sniper fire. The setting is Mesopotamia in 1917 as British troops are crossing the vast desert under the blazing hot sun fighting an “unseen” Arab enemy hiding in an endless sea of sand dunes. The film opens as another member of the troupe has been sniped through the lung, and the soldiers quietly bury him in the sand. While trudging alone, many men die, horses die, water is scarce, but eventually they stumble upon a vacant oasis where the men enjoy some shade, water, and general merriment. However, in the morning, they awaken to find that two night sentries have been knifed in the back and all the horses have all been stolen.
From here, one by one, each of the soldiers is killed by ghostly, mercenary Arabs hiding in the shadows –one man is sniped from a tree, another has hallucinations and wanders into a hail of bulletfire, two men who were dispatched for help are slaughtered and sent back to the oasis on horseback. Suddenly, just as the dwindling men are beginning to lose hope, a British patrol plane appears, but when the friendly pilot emerges, he is immediately shot dead by Arabs hiding in the sand dunes. After a few more skirmishes, Sanders (Boris Karloff) –an infuriating religious fanatic—is killed beneath a crucifix, the Sergeant (Victor McLaglen) is then left alone to bury his fallen comrades in a sandy grave beside their swords. In the end, we finally see the hidden Arabs come forward from their hiding place, while the Sergeant guns them all down. He is then rescued by a nearby British patrol squad which spotted the explosions from afar.
The Lost Patrol is a fairly forgettable film in my view, though it offers a charming trip back to the simple Hollywood movies from the 1930s. However, I was particularly struck by Max Steiner’s Oscar-nominated score in this film, as well as Boris Karloff’s appearance in another unique role. The Lost Patrol presents an interesting case study in the idea of the all-seeing invisible enemy, the fearsome racialized “other,” the one-dimensional portrayal of Arabs as uniquely suspicious, violent, and evil.
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- Director: John Ford
- Based on: Patrol (1927) by Philip MacDonald
- Screenplay: Garrett Fort and Dudley Nichols
- Producers: Merian C. Cooper, Cliff Reid, and John Ford
- Starring:
- Victor McLaglen…..The Sergeant
- Boris Karloff….. Sanders (he received mixed reviews for his performance with some believing he hit the nail on the head as the religious fanatic while others thought he was simply unbelievable.
- Wallace Ford….. Morelli
- Reginald Denny….. George Brown
- Cinematography: Harold Wenstrom
- Editor: Paul Weatherwax
- Music by: Max Steiner
- Distributed by: RKO Radio Pictures
- Other Notes:
- The Lost Patrol was filmed in Algodones Dunes, California and Yuma, Arizona where temperatures could reach as high as 150 °F. Many of the people involved in the making of this film were World War I veterans: Merian C. Cooper (who served in the U.S. Air Service 1916-1921, and again as a brigadier general in World War II 1941-1946), Victor McLaglen served as a captain (acting) with the 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, and both Wallace Ford and Reginald Denny served in World War I. Boris Karloff attempted to enlist in the British Army during World War I, but was rejected due to his heart murmur.The Lost Patrol was first completed as a British silent film (the star was Victor McLaglen’s brother, Cyril McLaglen). Later was remade as a Western and as a World War II film called Betaan (1943) starring Robert Taylor.
- Producer Cliff Reid was so impressed with John Ford’s work on this film that he persuaded RKO to let John Ford make the film he had been wanting to make –The Informer (1935) which earned Ford his first Oscar nomination and which garnered
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