The Lost Patrol (1934)

The latest viewing off my DVR that's available on DVD courtesy of the Warner Archive is The Lost Patrol.

It's World War I in British Mesopotamia, and a group of British soldiers are on patrol out in a middle of nowhere part of the desert. Suddenly, the captain of the patrol falls off his horse, having been hit by an unseen sniper somewhere out in the dunes. The Sergeant (Victor McLaglen) forced into command faces a serious dilemma. He was never let in on the exact nature of this patrol, so he has no idea where he's supposed to be going or where the group even is. (You'd think they'd have a sextant or something to help navigate.) Making matters worse is that one of the men, Sanders (Boris Karloff) is a devout Christian who insists on holding a proper funeral for the fallen man, even thogh hanging around seems like a serious risk

So, having buried the captain as quickly as possible, the Sergeant leads his men north, and eventually they at least have a seeming bit of luck in finding an oasis. Now, I'd think the restive Arabs would know where all the oases are and that hiding out at one of them would be suicide for the British, but it's not as if they've got any better options. It's the least bad thing to hunker down there for a while and try to figure out what to do.

As you can guess, the Arabs find the British, as in the morning the night sentry has been shot dead, and the horses were released. Not having horses is certain to kill all of them, but still the Sergeant tries to figure a way out of the situation. The Arabs have time on their side, and are willing to wait and take whatever chance they can to know the British soldiers off one by one. Eventually, a British airplane flies overhead, which could mean rescue, but the pilot decides to land rather than going back to base and informing the commanders there. Little does he know he's landed somewhere surrounded by snipers. Sanders, meanwhile, is slowly reaching the breaking point as a Christian not cut out for war.

In some ways there's not much to The Lost Patrol, but what there is is quite good. It's a fairly simple story that could translate to almost any military anywhere, at least in the days before GPS made pinpointing location much easier. The movie is more about the performances and the impending sense of doom, both of which are pulled off well. Karloff doesn't get the credit he deserves as a serious actor thanks to his having played Frankenstein's monster, but he's quite good here. McLaglen doesn't do badly, and the supporting actors (including Alan Hale, Reginald Denny, and Wallace Ford) all do OK. The simplicity of the plot heightens the sense of doom as there's nothing to distract from it. The desert cinematography (the Sonoran Desert in southeast California and areas around Yuma substituting for Iraq) also stands out.

The Lost Patrol is a worthy watch if you haven't seen it before.