The Lost Patrol (1934)

When the commander of a desert patrol is shot leading his men on a secret mission, nobody left knows where they are supposed to be going but “Sgt. Quincannon” (was it a contractual obligation for Victor McLaglen’s character to be called that?) knows they have to find water and shelter soon. To that end, they head to an oasis where they settle for the night but in the morning discover their horses have been stolen and their sentry killed. Now, with the sun beating down on them and with no idea what they are supposed to be doing now, the psychology of their situation starts to affect each man in different ways. They know that any wrong move will likely leave them fodder for the snipers who killed their captain, but pretty soon their discipline becomes compromised and the sergeant has his work cut out for him. Amongst his troop is bible-thumping “Sanders” (Boris Karloff) who proves increasingly zealous and there’s also quite a gently effective effort from Reginald Denny as an officer and a gentlemen determined to hold on to some semblance of civilised behaviour as their unseen enemy hides in the dunes. I quite like these siege scenarios where each of the characters can have their own few moments in the sun, and for the most part John Ford allows each of this small troop to bring a different perspective to their predicament, but essentially this is all about Karloff and an on-form McLaglen that is slowly but effectively paced with quite a degree of jeopardy right until the conclusion.