I am not sure what it was about 1939, but it truly was a year that made some great films. Patrick has often gone on about that, and for good reason. I rented Beau Geste because I like Gary Cooper, not for when it was made. After I enjoyed the movie so much I noticed it was from 1939 and could just picture Patrick telling me, "I told you so!"

It is a story of three brothers, and loyalty. It is about sacrifice and duty. Honor so often seems a lost concept these days, but it is held in high regard here. The movie opens with a forward based on an Arabian proverb, "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." Wow, I never thought I would ever use a positive reference to Mohamad in a review.

Beau Geste has one of the greatest opening scenes of any movie ever made. An army of the French Foreign Legion arrive at a fort in the desert. The rampart has men all along it, but no one answers when the soldiers call up to them. Eventually the bugler goes over the wall to see what happened, but he never returns. An officer then goes over, only to discover that everyone of the men on the ramparts are dead, and the bugler is nowhere in sight.

The movie then goes to a flash back of three brothers living with their aunt in an English mansion. Along with another boy and a girl, they play pirate and have a pleasant enough youth. Beau discovers a secret that later leads to him and his brothers joining the French Foreign Legion.

They protect each other, and stick together when the other men want to mutiny against their cruel company commander who always calls them scum. The secret that brought them to Africa shows back up and gets them into trouble. Eventually it all leads them to the fort in the desert that the movie opens with, and explains exactly what happened.

Beau Geste is a great old fashion adventure tale. It has some intriguing mysteries and just enough action. If only they could have given the brothers more distinct personalities. One is the oldest, and thus the leader. Another one is in love with their childhood playmate. Pay attention to them playing pirate, as it comes back into the movie in what is a very satisfying ending.

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