An adventure and thrilling movie about the reckless British soldiers fighting in the remote Kurdishtan . During WW1, the destinies of two British officers Michael Andrews (Gary Grant) and John Stevenson (Claude Rains) are intermingled on and on . British-officer Michael Andrews is captured by a gang of raiders on the Eastern Front , and is rescued by a man calling himself John Stevenson. Both of whom help save an entire Kurdish tribe : The Balkari, from a slaughter by crossing a river and an arduous journey of the unfortunate nomads and also avert a surprise assault on the British army-unit stationed there . Along the way , at the battle front , Michael is wounded and he is healed by a nurse (Gertrude Michael), and both of them fall in love . Later on , their lives once again are interspersed in a far garrison in which appears to have the possibility of no survivors among the defenders and they come face-to-face against enemies that are under a bloody attack . Men of steel in an empire of fire! They wanted an assignment in Hell...and a woman gave them the job! A great desert , thundering path of empire , the fanatic Kurdish horsemen and the hordes of Sudan warriors . And the crowning spectacle of the two men who carved a saga of battle and love across the deserts , jungles and towering peaks of the Kurdishtan .
Moving and thrilling movie set in Kurdishtan and Sudan in the turbulent beginning of the 20th century , during WWI . It is a rousing , stirring tale , but rough-edged fare . Entertaining adventure set in the Kurdishtan desert , jungles and mountains where our starring Gary Grant is imprioned and freed by Claude Rains , subsequently suffering an injured leg and is sent to the British military-hospital in Cairo where meets his love . As our two protagonists : Gary Grant and Claude Rains seem intertwined on the battleground as much as on a more personal level . Being freely based on a short story "The Drum" by Britten Austin , adaptated by prestigious Charles Brackett , Billy Wilder's regular , and screenplay by Philip MacDonald . The latter was a notorious novelist and expert horseman who prior to World War I he trained horses bought from Argentina for the British army, and when war broke out he enlisted in the army and was posted to a cavalry unit in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) . This ¨The last outpost¨ contains noisy adventures , thrills , action , romance , battles and an exciting end . But including a lot of stock footage from a native migration that are taken from Merian C. Cooper's documentary Grass (1925) and other shots from Four Feathers (1929 silent version) regarding the battle scenes in the later half of the movie . The film develops an enjoyable relationship beteween two men by forming a strange friendship , only spoiled by a woman who turns out to be the damsel who falls in love for both . Gary Grant gives a nice acting in his usual style as the brave officer harassed by enemies . And Claude Rains as another undercover Brit officer who has not seen nor heard from his wife in over three years . Support cast is pretty good , such as Billy Bevan , Claude King , brief appearance by Akim Tamiroff and Kathleen Burke of Island of the lost souls , among others .
It packs atmospheric cinematography in brilliant black and white , filmed in exteriors but mostly shot in studios , Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, and Paramount Studios ,Melrose Avenue , Universal Studios City Plaza , Universal City , California . The motion picture was professionally directed by Charles Barton and Louis J. Gasnier, though it has some flaws , gaps and failures . Director Charles Barton was a prolific craftsman who directed as Television episodes as cinema , as he made a lot of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello vehicles , such as : Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, Abbott and Costello meet the killer Boris Karloff , Africa screams and other films as Hell town , Toby Tyler and Shaggy dog . Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and passable adventure movie . An attractive film and better than expected .
