51
Metascore
4 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Third time out for one of the most memorable silent films still packs hardy entertainment. The production is an expertly-made translation of Percival Christopher Wren's novel of the French Foreign Legion in a lonely Sahara outpost, distinguished by good acting, fine photographic values and fast direction. Guy Stockwell delineates the title role.
- The only thing really wrong with this tame little film, based on a prize-winning children's novel by Joseph Krumgold, is that nothing happens.
- 50TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThe film was directed and scripted by Douglas Heyes, who was smart enough to know he couldn't improve on William Wellman's 1939 version, so he made some changes in plot and emphasis, and put a great deal of care into the casting of secondary roles.
- 50Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe 1966 version of the much-remade Foreign Legion warhorse is more violent, less romantic and less watchable than others -- and its stars (Doug McClure, Telly Savalas) aren't exactly Gary Cooper (who was in the 1939 film) either. [08 Apr 1988, p.16]