Independent Films, Film Profiles

The Lost Patrol (1934 film)
by John_Ford

The Lost Patrol is a 1934 war film made by RKO. It was directed and produced by John Ford, with Merian C. Cooper as executive producer and Cliff Reid as associate producer. The screenplay was by Dudley Nichols, adapted by Garrett Fort from the novel Patrol by Philip MacDonald. The music score was by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Harold Wenstrom. The film is a remake of a 1929 British film, directed and written by Walter Summers and based on the same novel.The film starred Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff, Wallace Ford, Reginald Denny, J.M. Kerrigan, and Alan Hale. Max Steiner received a nomination for the Academy Award for Original Music Score.During World War I, the commanding officer of a small British patrol in the Mesopotamian desert is shot and killed by an unseen Arab sniper, leaving the Sergeant (Victor McLaglen) at a loss, since he had not been informed what their mission was. He decides to try to rejoin the brigade, even though he does not know where they are or where he is.Eventually, the eleven men reach an oasis. During the night, one of the sentries is killed, the other seriously wounded, and all their horses are stolen, leaving them stranded. One by one, the remaining men are picked off by the unseen enemy. In desperation, the Sergeant sends two men chosen by lot on foot for help, but they are caught and tortured to death, before their bodies are sent back. The pilot of a British biplane spots the survivors, but nonchalantly lands nearby and is killed before he can be warned. The men take the machine gun from the plane and set the plane on fire in a desperate bid to attract British troops. Sanders (Boris Karloff), a religious fanatic, goes mad.In the end, only the Sergeant is left. When the Arabs finally show themselves, he manages to kill them all with the machine gun he took from the airplane. Moments later, another British patrol arrives, attracted by the smoke from the burning plane.