Set in 1940 , in the colony of French Sudan, Col. Dufort (George Dolenz) arrives in Timbuktu with his wife (Yvonne De Carlo) to take over the French garrison that is being threatened and harassed by enemies, as well as rebel nationalists, while he intends to pacify the region. Dufort replaces a commandant eliminated by the rebels belonging to a violent group that advocates for the independence of the territory. So a Tuareg uprising is being instigated by an evil emir nicknamed 'The Lion of the Desert' (John Dehner), supposedly inspired by Mohamet Adjani, a holy man once regarded as a friend of France. To combat the advance of nationalist sentiment among the population, they achieve the collaboration of Mike Conway (Victor Mature) , an American arms smuggler who does not hesitate to ally himself with anyone if he gets substantial economic benefits. Almost immediately Colonel and Mme. Dufort push on to Bou Djebeha in company with Mike who soon engages the colonel's wife in adultery. At Bou Djebeha, Conway awares of the holy man has been abducted by the evil emir who is the true force behind the rebellion. Complications and problems ensue as Conway and the colonel attempt to get the holy man back to Timbuktu in order to can speak out against the rebellion. The Sahara's Hottest Adventure!. Last Outpost of Terror!. The Tarantula Desert Torture! The Massacre at the Mosque! The Human Lance-Target!. The mighty revolt that turned the Sahara red!. Mature had already starred in two films in Africa in the 50s.
This is one of the films that bears the least of Jacques Tourneur's tardemarks, being very far from other adventure films by this great director such as ¨The Flame and the Arrow¨. An adventure and thrilling movie about the reckless legends of the french foreign legion fighting in Timbuktu. Adventure movie about the Foreign legion in a remote location in Africa , as a regiment of legionnaries under command of Budford become involved into an intrigue full of ambushes, betrayal and tortures carried out by the nasty Emir.
Entertaining Arab adventure in average budget produced by Edward Small , set in the African deserts where our starring Victor Mature has to fight against a plethora of villain rebels. It contains noisy adventures, thrills , action, romance , battles and a lot of tortures. These enjoyable film was ordinarily played by Victor Mature in his usual style as an American gunrunner named Mike, he was nearly at his most agile and deft style , as he starred various Adventure films, such as: The bandit of Zhobe, The sharkfighters, Safari, Zarak, Anibal, The Tartars, and was superstar of Hollywood epics . His initial roles in John Ford's My darling Clementine (1946) and in Henry Hathaway's Kiss of the death (1947) were among his finest work, though he moved more and more frequently into more exotic roles in films like Samson y Delilah (1949) and Sinuhe, the Egyptian (1954). Never an energetic actor nor one of great artistic pretensions, he nevertheless continued as a Hollywood stalwart both in B-films and in more prominent movies like The Robe (1953). More interested in golf than acting, his appearances diminished through the 1960s, but he made a stunning comeback of sorts in a hilarious romp as a very Victor Mature-like actor in Neil Simon's Zorro (1966). He eventually took over his activities and after a cameo as Samson's father in a TV remake of his own "Samson and Delilah¨(1984) , he retired for good. It is also worth highlighting the presence of Yvonne de Carlo, one of the few actresses who has two stars on the 'Hollywood Walk of Fame' for his contribution to the big screen: ¨The Ten Commandments¨and the small screen: ¨The Munsters¨. Furthermore, John Dehner who steals the show in a very nasty role. Support cast is pretty good , such as : Marcia Henderson, Robert Clarke, James Foxx, Paul Wexler , among others.
Atmospheric cinematography in brilliant black and white by Maury Gertsman, though mostly shot in studios , and on location in Kanab, Utah, USA. Stirring , evocative and thrilling musical score by Gerard Fried who composed some Kubrick's films: ¨Fear and desire¨, ¨The Killing¨, and ¨Paths of glory¨. This derring-do film was unevenly and professionally directed by filmmaker Jacques Tourneur, though it has some flaws , gaps and failures. Jacques was an underrated director, though the present-day he is better considered. Jacques Tourneur directed all kinds of genres , such as : Western : ¨Great day in the morning¨, ¨Stranger on horseback¨, ¨Canyon passage¨, ¨Wichita¨ ; Terror : ¨Curse of demon¨, ¨I Walked with a Zombie¨, ¨Leopard man¨ , ¨Cat people¨, ¨Comedy of terrors¨ ; Film Noir :¨Out the past¨, ¨Berlin express¨, ¨Experiment perilous¨ , ¨Nightfall¨ and Adventure : ¨The giant of Marathon¨ , ¨Martin the gaucho¨ , ¨Anne of the Indians¨ , ¨The flame and the arrow¨ and ¨Tombuctú¨ (1958). Rating: 6/10. Passable and decent adventure film but not too much.
