Just after World War I, Major Foster is incorporating new recruits into his French Foreign Legion platoon when he is sent to his former remote outpost located in the French Morocco to protect an archaeological excavation from El Krim, a Rifian leader who intends to unite all local tribes to fight the colonial government…
Acting
Gene Hackman committing fully to mediocre material.
Cinematography
Actual Moroccan locations—gorgeous, grainy, sun-blasted.
Practical Effects
Real camels, real heat, real sweat, real chaos.
Director
Dick Richards
Gene Hackman
Major William Sherman Foster
Terence Hill
Marco Segrain
Catherine Deneuve
Simone Picard
Max von Sydow
François Marneau
Ian Holm
El Krim
Jack O'Halloran
Ivan
Rufus
Sgt. Triand
Marcel Bozzuffi
Lt. Fontaine
André Penvern
'Top Hat'
Vernon Dobtcheff
Mean Corporal
Marne Maitland
Leon
Luigi Bonos
Andre
Wolf Kahler
First German
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Terence Hill was dubbed by another actor for the English release—his Italian accent was apparently too thick for 1977 audiences.
The film depicts the 1920s Rif War, an actual anti-colonial resistance; Moroccan critics noted the script conveniently sidesteps French war crimes.
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