Desert Command

A Story of the Modern Escapades of the Most Famous Adventurers in all Fiction!

72 Mins
1946
en

star3.8/ 10

Tom Wayne rescues Clancy, Renard and Schmidt in the Arabian desert and they join him in going after El Shaitan, a bad guy who is never seen as he tries to wipe out the Foreign Legion. Feature version of the movie serial, The Three Musketeers (1934).

Cast & Crew

John Wayne

Tom Wayne

Ruth Hall

Elaine Corday

Jack Mulhall

Clancy

Raymond Hatton

Renard

Francis X. Bushman Jr.

Schmidt (archive footage)

Noah Beery Jr.

Stubbs

Review

bfry24

An old creaker of a 12 chapter Foreign Legion serial actually puts John Wayne in the forefront of the action despite having him appear only fourth in the credits. The production standards of course were nothing to write home about then and are certainly slapdash now but the action has some nifty inventive moments and it was all shot on location which was a big plus. The good natured comraderie between the "musketeers" was definitely used as a prototype for Gunga Din, made six years later by RKO. Some notable appearances by Noah Beery Jr, Lon Chaney and Yakima Canutt will interest film historians and the adventure is entertaining enough even if you can't get through all the chapters in one sitting. Not the greatest old-time serial ever made I'm sure but I'll watch John Wayne in anything and the DVD was worth the purchase.

CinemaSerf

This compilation from the serial "The Three Musketeers" (nothing to do with Alexandre Dumas' story) is probably more notable for it's more impressive aerial acrobatics than for anything we see from the actors. John Wayne leads the cast as one of a trio of French Foreign legionnaires dealing with renegade Arab forces led by the enigmatic "El Shaitan" who is smuggling weapons to the local tribes. It frequently uses the music to cover up for lack of decent audio and though it does try to make much more use of outdoor, rather then studio scenarios - quite brave (and expensive) for 1933, it is still a pretty ropey affair to look at. It's still worth a watch as an historical piece of cinema, but keep your sights aimed low...

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