Beau Geste (1939)

My Review

“Beau Geste” is an adventure movie where three brothers enlist in the French Foreign Legion and face all kinds of thrills, chills, and spills. Director William A. Wellman (“A Star is Born” 1937) put together an exciting action film with decent production values, fine performances, and good writing by screenwriter Robert Carson. It was adapted from the 1924 novel of the same name by P. C. Wren.

The stars of the show include Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston as the three brothers. Brian Donlevy appears as the villainous Sergeant Markoff, the heavy of the piece. Donlevy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role. Co-stars include Susan Hayward, J. Carroll Naish, Broderick Crawford, Albert Dekker, Charles Barton, James Stephenson, Heather Thatcher, Billy Cook, Martin Spellman, Ann Gillis, and Donald O’Connor as Beau Geste as a teenager.

The watchable black-and-white adventure film “Beau Geste” was popular escapist entertainment in general release at the height of the Great Depression for producer William A. Wellman and Paramount Pictures. This is a remake of the 1926 silent movie of the same title starring Ronald Coleman.