Desert Sands

Desert Sands tells a few stories but the nuanced drama about camaraderie among French Foreign Legionnaires and the salty romance between a white man and a dusky Arab princess are subordinate to a Zulu-like clash of civilisations – the beastlike many against the civilised few. Paul Newman was lined up for the lead role but asked for too much money and so Ralph Meeker took the part, as the newly appointed captain of a remote fort waiting for his men to be relieved by a new platoon. Instead, they get attacked by a band of wild rebel Arabs and are soon overwhelmed. At which point the legionnaires switch from guns to guile in … Read more