Sgt. York (4) vs. The Lost Patrol (13)

VS.

PLOT:   “Sergeant York” is a biopic about the most decorated doughboy of WWI.  It introduces Alvin York as a hell-raising hillbilly who is a disappointment for his God-fearing mama.  The first part of the film covers York’s evolution from ne’er do well to born again Christian doing his best to win the heart and hand of his country sweetheart.  U.S. entry into WWI results in York being drafted.  At first he refuses to fight because thou shalt not kill, but thankfully for the audience he is convinced otherwise.  The last of the film reenacts his famous Medal of Honor exploit.  The plot is traditional.  York overcomes obstacles with the help of others.  Much of it is hokey by modern standards.  It is overtly religious.  GRADE  -  B

“The Lost Patrol” is also Old School.  It set the template for the subgenre of lost unit movies.  In this case, a British squad is cut-off at an oasis in the Sahara.  It also created some clichés like never climb a tree in a war movie.  The men are being picked off by an unseen enemy so it fits the “who will survive?” style.  It also is a small unit dynamics movie as the group of men has a variety of personalities.  Although the movie set standards for future war movies, the plot has not held up over the years.  There is a lack of reality to much of what happens and the supposedly seasoned soldiers make some stupid mistakes that perceptive viewers will find aggravating.  GRADE  -  C

FIRST QUARTER SCORE:  Sgt. York  -  8    Lost Patrol  -  7

ACTING:   “Sgt. York” is anchored by superstar Gary Cooper who won Best Actor Oscar for his performance.  He does a great job even if his age is distracting.  The rest of the cast has some recognizable faces like Walter Brenner as the local pastor.  He garnered an Academy Award nomination, as did Margaret Wycherly as York’s mammy.  The movie is basically stock characters played by stock actors.  There’s no scene-chewing, but there is an oversincerity.  GRADE  -  C

“The Lost Patrol” is an ensemble piece with Victor McLaglen at the center.  He and several other cast members were WWI veterans.  McLaglen is particularly good as the crusty sergeant and most of the rest are fine, but the overall rating is brought down by a grating performance by Boris Karloff as the religious fanatic in the unit.    GRADE  -  C

HALFTIME SCORE:  Sgt. York  -  15    Lost Patrol  -  14

COMBAT:  “Sgt. York” being a biopic, does not have much combat in it.  In fact, there is only one scene.  It’s a two parter with first a standard attack across no man’s land featuring some of the most laughable deaths in any war movie.  I have shown the assault in class so it is instructive, but not in the upper tier of WWI combat scenes.   This dynamic scene is followed by York’s individual action.  For some reason, this reenactment comes off inferior to the actual way the event played out.  GRADE  -  D

“The Lost Patrol” is not really meant to be a combat film.  The fighting consists of occasional sniping and the enemy is seldom seen.  What little action there is is painfully unrealistic.  Most of the men die because of a lack of common sense in securing their position.  The movie implies that the men are doomed, but that is only because of incompetence and due to the plot demanding it.  GRADE  -  F

THIRD QUARTER SCORE:   Sgt. York  -  20    Lost Patrol  -  18

ANTI-WAR:  “Sgt. York” is one of the few WWI movies that was actively pro-war.  It came out in 1941 and had a purpose of preparing the American public for involvement in the Second World War.  The last thing the producers wanted was for audiences to leave the theater horrified by the idea of another world war.  York goes from conscientious objector to patriotic warrior and becomes a celebrity.  The only sop to “war is Hell” is the death of one of York’s friends.  GRADE  -  F

“The Lost Patrol” is more anti-getting surrounded than it is anti-war.  It does feature likeable men (not counting Karloff’s Sanders).  Hell, Alan Hale gets killed!  There is little of the cynicism you get in lost patrol movies.  No one questions command decisions.  The cavalry arrives in the end.  GRADE  -  C

FINAL SCORE:  Sgt. York  -  24    

                           Lost Patrol  -  24

MATCH ANALYSIS:  So this pillow fight ends up in a tie.  No one wanted to win.  These are two overrated war movies, in my opinion.  “Sgt. York” is so much of its time that it has a lot of fans due to nostalgia.  It is firmly Old School.  It is as good as you could expect for when it was made.  It is effective in lionizing an authentic American hero and the audience ate it up with none of the groans that it would elicit in a theater today.  “The Lost Patrol” deserves credit for helping create an entire subgenre, but it seems quaint today.  It also established some clichés that we have had to deal with ever since then.  I recognize its importance, but it just is not a good movie.  Neither movie deserves to move on.  However, we have to have a winner and I am going to give it to “Sgt. York” because in a tournament to determine the best combat movie, it has a combat scene in it that is fairly good.   

CLASSIC or ANTIQUE? The Lost Patrol (1934)

 

                “The Lost Patrol” is a John Ford “who will survive in the outpost?” movie.  It is based on a novel entitled Patrol by Philip McDonald.  It was filmed in the Algodones Dunes of California.  The actors had to deal with 120 degree weather.  It was produced for $262,000 and made $583,000.  Did I mention it was made in 1934?  The movie was nominated for an Oscar for Musical Score by Max Steiner.  It is considered by some to be a minimalist masterpiece.  It is certainly minimalist in length at 73 minutes.

                The movie opens with a twelve man patrol trudging through the Mesopotamian desert during the Great War.  This could be the sandiest movie in history.  Bang!  There goes the only officer and the only person with a clue as to where they are going and why.  Our first clue that this is going to be a minimalist plot is the fact that the men of the patrol seem to care not at all about their dead officer.  Perhaps he was a jerk.  The Sergeant (Victor McLaglan whose brother starred in the original silent version and who served in the Irish Fusiliers in that same area and time) takes command and leads the patrol to an oasis.  For the Western obsessed Ford, this will stand in for a fort and the lurking Arabs will be the Indians.  When they reach the oasis, they all refuse to jump in the water and splash around gleefully.  Just kidding.

Okay, this time remember to not yell "Here come the Injuns!"

 

                This is a small unit dynamics movie.  The group is heterogeneous in an all-white sort of way.  With only 73 minutes available, we don’t get a lot of back-story on our crew.  Naturally one of them is a wolf who regales his mates with his conquests.  One is a naïve newbie.  One is a veteran father figure.  Obviously the Sergeant is gruff, but caring.  The one non-stock character is a Bible thumper named Sanders (Boris Karloff).  By the end of the film, Karloff has chewed all the bark off the palm trees. 

                They awake the next morning to find the newbie knifed to death and the horses gone.  Two down, ten to go.  The jovial guy climbs a palm tree and gets shot.  Dude, never climb a tree in a war movie!  They draw straws to see which two will go for help.  In the daylight.  Great plan, Sarge.  They return strapped to horses and mutilated.  Four down.  One of the survivors goes charging out for revenge – fail.  Five down.  Some more picking off by the amazingly proficient Arab snipers who never miss.  Three left.  Although we’re never told what the Arabs are upset about, we can assume they don’t like foreign occupiers drinking up their water.  Uncivilized bastards!

                A biplane spots them and proceeds to land and the pilot jauntily hops out.  Bonus death!  Is this movie a comedy?  It is laughable in spots.  Good thing the plane came along because how else would the Sergeant get a machine gun.    As anyone who has seen any of the British Imperial action movies (e.g. “The Lives of a Bengal Lancer”) knows, machine guns are the best for mowing down pesky natives.  Also, a burning plane makes a good smoke signal.  By the way, they don’t bother to check on the pilot when they go out to the plane.  Screw him, damned flyboy.

It says here that in a Lost Patrol movie
we each get picked off.  Damn!

                Before the cavalry arrives, Sanders completes his arc to complete insanity and goes toodling off with a cross (get it?) for a walking stick.  Sometimes in movies like this you get the irony of the insane guy surviving.  Not this movie.  Two left.  For God knows what reason, Morelli goes to Sanders and gets – well, you know by now.  Twelve Arab bullets – twelve British dead.  (Oops – one of them was knifed.)  Is Ford going all in and closing bleakly (and realistically)?  Did I mention the movie was released in 1934 and needed to recoup its $262,000?  I know I mentioned the machine gun.


          Finally we see the Arabs.  So does Sarge.  It’s payback time.  The Sergeant slaughters them while laughing hysterically (the only way to laugh when outnumbered) .  They are not getting (back) this watering hole!  The cavalry arrives.  Column rides off into the sunset – Western style.

Come at me camel jockeys!

                I have read reviews that call this a masterpiece.  Wrong!  “Classic” is a little more appropriate because it is old, John Ford, and influenced the subgenre.  Frankly, it’s neither a masterpiece nor a classic.  It is just flat out a bad movie.  Much of it is ridiculous.  Most of the actions of the patrol make no military sense.  The Sergeant is supposed to be a great leader, but he actually is a doofus.  Climb that tree.  Go out into the desert in broad daylight to get help.  There is a hilarious scene where the Sergeant and Morelli guard the perimeter from the same spot.  Lucky for them the Arabs are too stupid to use maneuver or attack from several directions at once.

                The movie is minimalist because it’s short and simplistic.  The acting is satisfactory except for the embarrassing performance by Karloff.   Someone must have told him he was in a silent movie.  The music is constant, but not bad in setting the mood.  It does not bludgeon you (like some of Steiner’s scores).  It is very Old School.  No blood or even bullet holes.

Dude, give it a rest, the cameras aren't running.

                Relatively speaking, “The Lost Patrol” is not a bad movie.  But I am not reviewing based on the relative merits of war movies.  I am reviewing based on how good the movie is compared to all war movies, not just war movies from its era.  With that said, this movie is bad.  If it was remade with the same script, it would be laughed out of the theaters.  Crispin Glover could play Sanders.

grade =  D