Beau Geste

Exciting and well written with some nice twists but nothing over the top.

Effective adventure film with good work by Donlevy, Cooper and Naish.

and I thought Donald O'Connor was an odd choice for Buster Keaton

Not quite as good as I'd hoped for such a classic action-adventure. It's a bit 'stiff upper lip' for me. With the exception of the final stand in the fort, I felt like most of the film was forgettable. Still, I can't say I didn't enjoy it.

Great storytelling by William A. Wellman

Enjoyable band of brothers story which oddly combines a jewel theft and a Saharan shootout. I didn't really like the structure at first -- it seems the ending is revealed right at the beginning -- but there's a decent twist in the end that made me reconsider.

a decent film that keeps your interest going. However, I deeply suspect that any legionnaires watching this back in 1939 would have laughed their cocks off

This is a fast paced, rollicking little adventure film with an astonishingly good cast.

They pretty much steal most of the lay-out from the 1926 silent version, so there is not much difference narratively. That doesn't matter much because the story is one of the classics, and made even more classic by Hollywood's wonderful treatment of the book. I prefer the casting of the silent film. The 1939 film give a more rounded experience thanks to the evolution of sound and the polished William A. Wellman treatment. Simply a thrilling adventure which kept me glued to the screen!