Water the Greatest Treasure
Henry Hathaway's movies can be relied on to provide good entertainment, competently executed and well-acted. Niagara (1953) and True Grit (1969) stand out in my experience as excellent dramas, highlighting their respective stars, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne. Wayne appeared in Legend of the Lost (1957) along with Rossano Brazzi and Sophia Loren. Though it takes place in the 1950s present, starting in Timbuktu, the journey undertaken across the Sahara by Paul Bonnard (Brazzi), Dita (Loren), and the amusingly named Joe January (Wayne) extends the modern characters seemingly into the deep past. On a search for a lost city, they encounter nomadic Tuaregs and end up in a Roman ruin, Timgad in modern Libya. The Libyan location shooting itself makes this film unusual, considering the chaos and strife in that nation during this decade.
Dunes, drifting sand particles, landscapes of the classic Rudolf Valentino film, The Sheikh (reviewed in this blog), the desert's silence, oasis to oasis, the trio ride or lead six donkeys on their quest.
Joe January is an Ernest Hemingway-type adventurer, a guide for the religious Bonnard, a man who knows enough of medicine and healing to cure a sick Tuareg, earning him gratitude from the nomads. January's cynicism, especially about the character of the tagalong thief Dita--drawn to Bonnard due to his respect for her personhood--wears on Bonnard, who also objects to his guide's alcoholism. Holier-than-thou, but imbued with humility, Bonnard doesn't seem to be flawed at all. Dita hero-worships him. His reversal in character, driven by finding out his father's fate in the "lost city," that the old man was really a fabricator, an adulterer, shocks Dita although it doesn't surprise the worldly Joe January.
The city, believed by Bonnard to be some kind of prehistoric place, is really a Roman colony town established by the Emperor Trajan. Bonnard's father had written glowing letters about the city, talking it up as more than it really is, although it's quite an interesting place, and there is a treasure, found by the trio.
Bonnard, finally finding Sophia Loren irresistible, makes a rejected play for her. She's shocked by his ungentlemanly behavior. He runs out and starts taking shots at the two of them, steals all six of the donkeys, all of their water, the jewels and coins they had found in the city.
Dita and Joe January must track Bonnard. Finding one of the donkeys who has a knack for smelling water saves their lives. They dig, Dita half dead with exhaustion and thirst. Nearby, Bonnard is nearly dead, but he summons the energy to bury his jewels and coins so that Joe and Dita won't take them. Water, though, is more precious than gold at this point. Digging deep enough, they find water, but not before a final scuffle with the maddened Bonnard, who gets a bullet into Joe's shoulder. Joe, already weakened, passes out, taken care of by Dita who soon notices a caravan of Tuaregs on the horizon.
Salvation.
It's a good movie, I think. An interesting story well told. The scenes at the real Roman city of Timgad have a haunting quality as the viewer can imagine a city of citizens walking about, going about their business at a time when the desert was maybe less of a hazard in that part of the world, the climate in Romanized North Africa being different from today's environment.
Vic Neptune
Henry Hathaway's movies can be relied on to provide good entertainment, competently executed and well-acted. Niagara (1953) and True Grit (1969) stand out in my experience as excellent dramas, highlighting their respective stars, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne. Wayne appeared in Legend of the Lost (1957) along with Rossano Brazzi and Sophia Loren. Though it takes place in the 1950s present, starting in Timbuktu, the journey undertaken across the Sahara by Paul Bonnard (Brazzi), Dita (Loren), and the amusingly named Joe January (Wayne) extends the modern characters seemingly into the deep past. On a search for a lost city, they encounter nomadic Tuaregs and end up in a Roman ruin, Timgad in modern Libya. The Libyan location shooting itself makes this film unusual, considering the chaos and strife in that nation during this decade.
Dunes, drifting sand particles, landscapes of the classic Rudolf Valentino film, The Sheikh (reviewed in this blog), the desert's silence, oasis to oasis, the trio ride or lead six donkeys on their quest.
Joe January is an Ernest Hemingway-type adventurer, a guide for the religious Bonnard, a man who knows enough of medicine and healing to cure a sick Tuareg, earning him gratitude from the nomads. January's cynicism, especially about the character of the tagalong thief Dita--drawn to Bonnard due to his respect for her personhood--wears on Bonnard, who also objects to his guide's alcoholism. Holier-than-thou, but imbued with humility, Bonnard doesn't seem to be flawed at all. Dita hero-worships him. His reversal in character, driven by finding out his father's fate in the "lost city," that the old man was really a fabricator, an adulterer, shocks Dita although it doesn't surprise the worldly Joe January.
The city, believed by Bonnard to be some kind of prehistoric place, is really a Roman colony town established by the Emperor Trajan. Bonnard's father had written glowing letters about the city, talking it up as more than it really is, although it's quite an interesting place, and there is a treasure, found by the trio.
Bonnard, finally finding Sophia Loren irresistible, makes a rejected play for her. She's shocked by his ungentlemanly behavior. He runs out and starts taking shots at the two of them, steals all six of the donkeys, all of their water, the jewels and coins they had found in the city.
Dita and Joe January must track Bonnard. Finding one of the donkeys who has a knack for smelling water saves their lives. They dig, Dita half dead with exhaustion and thirst. Nearby, Bonnard is nearly dead, but he summons the energy to bury his jewels and coins so that Joe and Dita won't take them. Water, though, is more precious than gold at this point. Digging deep enough, they find water, but not before a final scuffle with the maddened Bonnard, who gets a bullet into Joe's shoulder. Joe, already weakened, passes out, taken care of by Dita who soon notices a caravan of Tuaregs on the horizon.
Salvation.
It's a good movie, I think. An interesting story well told. The scenes at the real Roman city of Timgad have a haunting quality as the viewer can imagine a city of citizens walking about, going about their business at a time when the desert was maybe less of a hazard in that part of the world, the climate in Romanized North Africa being different from today's environment.
Vic Neptune
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