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 silent film,
directed and written by Walter Summers
and based on the same novel, which coincidentally starred
Victor McLaglen's younger brother Cyril McLaglen in the lead role.
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.
It was filmed in the Algodones Dunes of California.
User Review
QuoteDisplay MoreDespite some flaws, the film still delivers an emotional feeling of helplessness.
3 October 1998 | by Arthur Hausner ([email protected]) (Pine Grove, California)
John Ford's critically acclaimed film has lost some of its punch,
but still delivers an emotional feeling of helplessness,
as the lost patrol is menaced by unseen Arabs, and are picked off one by one until few are left.
That feeling is reinforced when a rescue airplane lands and the pilot,
unaware of the danger, cavalierly walks toward the men,
who try to signal him to take cover.
But there are bit too many dead spots between the action sequences.
And Boris Karloff tends to overact his religious fanatic role,
which got on everyone's nerve, including mine.
Still, the film is beautifully photographed and has a good Max Steiner score.