BEAU GESTE 1926 (silent)

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Newly Restored

Reviewed by Roy Frumkes

This was an uncommonly large restoration effort by a great many skilled hands, and while the human drama of the film has diminished over time, the several expansive desert sequences have remained unsurpassed, even by 1962’s LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. (Interestingly, Robert A. Harris is a major player in both films. Has he been harboring something quirky about desert locales?)

The cast is also exceptional, down to the smaller parts. Victor McLaglen barges in and out as a friendly heavy. Early William Powell carves an effectively slimy performance out of his script pages as a sniveling lowlife. However, the lowest life is assigned to Noah Beery as the sadistic Sergeant Lejaune. Perhaps I prefer Brian Donlevy in the 1939 remake, but Beery certainly delivers.

The score, pieced together from original music cues as well as modern motifs, occasionally made me cringe but was primarily stirring. A commentary is provided by historian Frank Thompson. There’s also a radio play of the narrative by Orson Welles and an informative booklet that details the herculean effort and expense it took to bring the story to the screen.