Lost Command (1966)

Lost in Shadow

This movie was shot in Spain, and it was being filmed just before the classic Gillo Pontecorvo behemoth THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1966). It was released first but it has been overshadowed by the more popular epic for over 40 years. One of the problems it had was that the actual history regarding the Algerian fight for independence received the "Hollywood" treatment--complete with well-known actors and a "Love Story".

THE LOST COMMAND (1966) was directed by Mark Robson, who had given us several powerful films 20 years earlier, like CHAMPION (1949), HOME OF THE BRAVE (1949), BRIGHT VICTORY (1951) and THE HARDER THEY FALL (1956). The year before COMMAND, he directed the fine war film, VON RYAN'S EXPRESS (1965). Robson, in the twilight of his career directed mainstream fluff like THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1967), and EARTHQUAKE (1974).

Anthony Quinn played Lt. Col. Pierre Raspeguy, a Basque peasant who rose in the ranks to a commander of paratroopers. We are introduced to him just as the Viet Minh are overrunning his company at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in Indo-China; soon to become Viet Nam. Emerging from a POW camp, Quinn loses his command.. We are treated to a back story scene as Raspeguy returned home for a visit to his family and his village. We see more than a trace of Alexis Zorba during those scenes. Soon in France, he is romancing a widowed Countess de Clairfons (Michelle Morgan), who cannot seem to resist his earthiness. Through her aristocratic intervention, he is offered another command of paratroopers, and sent into the fray in Algeria.

Quinn was able to gather many of his old troops around him, including Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet. After arriving in Algeria, Raspeguy discovered that his primary advesary was a former officer of his in Indo-China, Lt. Mahidi (George Segal). Segal had to struggle a bit with the dark pancake make-up and the French accent, but generally he was effective. Claudia Cardinale played Aisha, Mahidi's sister, providing the love interest for Delon. She, too, although woefully miscast provided adequate eye candy.

There are three large scale battle scenes in the movie, and they are handled very spectacularly. When the 10th Paratrooper Battalion arrived early one morning in the city of Algiers, declaring martial law -there are marvelous echoes and similarities to Pontecorvo's film. LOST COMMAND does serve as an interesting companion piece to BATTLE OF ALGIERS, for it deals a lot with the battles in the mountains, where historically much of the revolt actually happened. Then the FLN took to the city streets, and their terrorist bombings cajoled the international press into covering their struggle.
August 20, 2007

A Good War Film

This is a pretty good film, although from a historical point of view it misses a few important points about the conflict in Algeria.

The director's intent was clearly to show how a good soldier (LTC Raspeguy) becomes compromised in his efforts to stop a terror war in the French colony. The more dangerous and extreme the actions of the terrorists the more Raspeguy looks the other way when his soldiers take extreme steps in response. A man of physical courage, Raspeguy fails to invoke moral courage in himself and his soldiers.

A few minor technical issues, such as the matchbox bombs used in the film. There is no way such a small device could be as destructive as they are portrayed in the film, but it is an important plot point.

Anthony Quinn is as good as ever in this film, although I think the role could have been expanded to take better advantage of his acting skills.

Be sure to look for "Cato" at the beginning of the film. I also had my doubts about him... April 4, 2007

Entertaining study in desert counterinsurgency

After losing his command in Vietnam, the Anthony Quinn character is given another chance in Algiers. The plot has an interesting twist in a friend who defects and that along with Mr. Quinn's performance, and the battle action, save it from mediocrity.

This movie, based somewhat on a true story, is also a classic study in desert counterinsurgency, a topic not often explored in war movies. In that respect, a few who enjoy combat movies with an unconventional warfare twist will enjoy this one and want it for their library to watch multiple times. Anthony Quinn is ideal for his role as the French Colonel. November 2, 2006

A Gem

This an extremly well edited film. It is the only movie that I know of that covers this period. I first saw it when I was a grunt in Vietnam. All of my fellow combat Marines loved it! March 15, 2006

Atrociously bad, Larteguy should have sued.

The Centurions is one of the premiere war novels of all time, and aptly catches the nuances and flavors, both sweet and bitter, of the period. It was an instant classic, and Larteguy's dictum on two armies, mouthed through the fictional Cnel. Raspeguy to his mentor, was a standard office fixture of many a paratroop and special forces commander in the 1960s and 70s. In 1966, "Lost Command" was not so bad because the great majority of war movies were then B films with actors the likes of John Wayne essentially playing themselves. In the wake of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Blackhawk Down", "Lost Command" barely merits a B rating. And in the league of "Bridge on the River Kwai" or "Lawrence of Arabia", it is a cartoon. This is a crime. Larteguy's characters are all composites of real Indochina and Algerian war soldiers and commanders from both sides, and his ability to capture that so well in prose deserved a far better movie. Simply put, the screenplay writens and the director should have been taken out and shot for crimes against literature. January 19, 2006

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