Classic Movies - Fabulous Films of 1939: Beau Geste

Today, let’s talk Classic Adventure Movie-Beau Geste! Based upon the popular novel by Percival Christopher Wren, Beau Geste is another in the long list of Fabulous Films of 1939. Universally hailed as a classic, Beau Geste is a thrilling tale of courage, duty, and devotion against all odds. As the film opens, the words of an Arabian proverb state: “The love of a man for a woman waxes and wanes like the moon… but the love of brother for brother is steadfast as the stars, and endures like the word of the prophet.”

In this moving epic of brotherly love and high adventure, marvelous actors Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston lead an outstanding all-star cast that includes Brian Donlevy (in an “Oscar”-nominated performance for best-supporting actor), Susan Hayward, J. Carrol Naish, Broderick Crawford, Albert Dekker, James Stephenson, Heather Thatcher, and child-actor Donald O’ Connor as young “Beau” Geste.

Most men join the French Foreign Legion to forget, but Michael “Beau” Geste (Cooper) and his two brothers, John (Milland), and Digby (Preston) join to be forgotten. They are running from a past clouded by the disappearance of their adopted family’s “Blue Water” sapphire, an event that cast suspicion on all three men. Their troubles, however, are soon overshadowed in the burning Sahara as they fall under the tyranny of the sadistic Sergeant Markoff (Donlevy) while defending their desert fortress (Fort Zinderneuf) alongside propped-up corpses of fallen Legionnaires.

All the characters in Beau Geste were superbly cast and the performances first-rate. The film was masterfully directed by William Wellman and released by Paramount Pictures. There have been several film versions of the classic adventure tale, including an earlier one with Ronald Colman, but this one is our personal favorite. It was our late father’s favorite movie, so we may be a bit prejudiced. We highly recommend this intriguing, action-packed motion picture for your viewing pleasure.

Don’t miss our next post for another Fabulous Film of 1939! Our blog appears every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

**Trivia Question for Today: Which "grown-up" Geste brother is given a “Viking Funeral” and what “dog” is laid at his feet before the “pyre” is set afire?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: In Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Blue Danube waltz is the tune to which “Mr. Chips” and Kathy danced and fell in love while in Vienna. Max told “Chips” that the Danube River only appears blue to those who are in love. The river certainly looked blue to “Chips”.