Ten Tall Men

Typical Oriental adventure movie set during the Riff War in Morocco , the French Foreign Legion governs an outpost in the middle of desert. The threatened outpost is usually attacked by the Muslim natives . Then the valiant sergeant Kincaid : Burt Lancaster schemes a plan to to vanquish the Muslims by kidnapping a bride : Jody Lawrence about to marry an Arab chief . As the Sergeant along with his underlings : George Tobias, Nick Dennis , Mike Mazurki , John Dehner , Kieron Moore , Michael Pate , among others carry out a dangerous mission.

Thrilling movie following the mould of the Oriental Adventures in Universal Pictures style . Being produced by the tandem Harold Hetch- James Hill-Burt Lancaster from Norma Production that financed a lot of nice films , most of them starred by Burt Lancaster . This Ten Tell Men 1951 contains noisy action , frisky adventure , enjoyable humor , impressive feats , thrills , go riding , sandstorm sequences and breathtaking chases . Howevever , this fun and amusing flick can't really disguise the fact that it is the ordinary Oriental Adventure Here Burt Lancaster was still in his all-action period when he turned out this moving and enjoyable Foreign Legion tale , such as "The Flame and the Arrow", "The Crimson Pirate" , "His Majesty O'Keefe" , "The Kentuckian" , though he formerly performed Noir Films such as: "Criss Cross" , "Sorry Wrong Number" and "The Killers" .

Here stands out a great and large support cast , as you can spot several secondaries with formidable characters as Gerard Mohr , John Dehner, Nick Dennis , Mike Mazurski, Michael Pate, Ian McDonald , Kieron Moore , George Tobias. And other up-and-coming stars as Ricardo Montalban and the extremely charming Mari Blanchard in a small character . The motion picture was competently directed by Willis Goldbeck . Rating : 6.5/10. Better than average adventure movie . Well worth seeing . The movie will appeal to Burt Lancaster fans .

Somewhere in the 1950's Hollywood discovered a simple formula for superior entertainment. Around that formula, any major star worth his salt could inspire a group of characters to create a magical memory. Thus this movie called " Ten Tall men " became a hit. Burt Lancaster, plays Sgt. Mike Kincaid, a French Foreign Legionnaire, who, while in a military stockade, learns of an impending attack on the city proper while the main garrison is away. Volunteering for what some consider a suicide mission, he and nine other prisoners ride into the desert to impede the attack for five days. During that time, the small group creates havoc among the gathering tribes to get their attention. Further they kidnap Mahla (Jody Lawrance) a tribal princess, which prevents the evil Khalif Hussein (Gerald Mohr) from caring out his attack. The entire film is fun to watch as great actors like Gilbert Roland, Kieron Moore, George Tobias, John Dehner and Mike Mazurki establish a wonderful and fun filled afternoon of creative enjoyment. A solid family offering for all ages. Easilly recommended. ****

When in the brig on charges, Foreign Legion Sgt Mike Kincaid learns from a Riff prisoner of an impending attack on the outpost of Tarfa. In exchange for freedom, Kincaid and his men offer to run a series of distracting missions across the territory to keep the enemy busy until help can arrive. When he also learns that the leader of the Riffs, Caid Hussein, plans to marry Mahla, a girl from another tribe, in order to combine the two tribes against the French, Kincaid kidnaps her and flees into the desert – sparking anger and a chase from Hussein and a growing love for Kincaid in Mahla.

Featuring the chest and jaw of Burt Lancaster, this is just one of many foreign legion films that were so popular at one time in Hollywood. The plot is fairly enjoyable despite not having any great development or depth to it; it provides movement and direction sufficient to keep the audience watching without ever requiring much of them and for this reason it works. Of course this is not to say it does anything special, because it doesn't but it does do what you would expect from a foreign legion picture of the period – sand storms, heroic sacrifice, bare chested heroes, torture, attacks on forts and so on. Sadly with this territory comes the usual problems – standard acting, poor characters, obvious plotting, clunky romances and a lack of real audience engagement; for me these did limit the effectiveness of the film and just made it blend with an average crowd.

The acting is roundly average to match the material. Lancaster is sturdy and heroic with a good charisma and presence; hardly an interesting performance but appropriate for the genre I think. Support is not so good. Naturally Lawrence and Mohr are white actors in ethnic roles but the problem is that they don't perform that well on any level – Lawrence is unconvincing and Mohr is only acceptable as the bad guy. The rest of the cast provide some comic relief and generally give the film a rambling feel.

Overall this is a standard genre film, nothing more nor nothing less. Those who like the matinée feel of the foreign legion film will enjoy it as such but just don't expect it to do anything above and beyond the call of duty as the characters, plot, action and delivery are all fairly average and prevent the film from standing out from the crowd.

This is a great movie for just watching and enjoying. No overwhelming drama, no thought to guess the plot or who-done-it, just good old fashioned entertainment. Burt Lancaster shines in a way only he can. The jokes are funny, lines memorable (mamasita, what a rap she gave me... Khassein is a lump of evil smelling goat cheese) the girls are pretty and it rolls along as you "listen to the squeaking of the little mouse". Just enjoy yourself, if you miss a few minutes in the kitchen it won't throw you off the plot. It's great to see REAL actors displaying their craft in a time period when talent was more important than looks, bra size and CGI. If you want drama, go find Wuthering Heights and get your fill.

The phrase "they don't make them like this anymore" is often used in this CGI-infested age to describe extra-laden and 'authentic' Hollywood spectaculars of yesteryear but, frankly, watching this more modest, tongue-in-cheek Foreign Legion adventure, I was equally struck by just how old-fashioned (and refreshingly so) it all was – not that the sand storm sequence included here would pass muster with today's audiences! Anyhow, from the very start of the film, we have Burt Lancaster, Gilbert Roland and Kieron Moore disguised as, respectively, an Arab merchant and his two daughters!; legionnaires who are punished for daring to look twice at their Lieutenant's fiancée; an Arab chieftain who marries off his daughter to a rival Sheik to bring peace between their warring tribes and in a bid to rid their country of the 'French' infidels; the kidnapping of that same feisty daughter who, not only turns the heads of all her ten titular captors but, after several escape attempts, eventually steals the heart of tough guy Lancaster; etc. However, shot in lovely Technicolor and moving at a rapid pace, the film is an enjoyable ride through familiar territory; what was somewhat surprising, plot-wise, is that while much was made initially of the unloved Lieutenant (Stephen Bekassy) and his blonde girlfriend (Mari Blanchard), their characters virtually disappear once Lancaster's jailbird unit sets out on its mission! Despite its baffling ultra-rarity, the film is peopled by an interesting pool of talent both in front and behind the camera: Lancaster is in his third adventure flick; Gilbert Roland is his usual laid-back, womanizing Latino self; John Dehner the proverbial rotten apple in the group; George Tobias (perhaps thankfully) sacrifices himself early on; Nick Dennis and Mike Mazurki are among the rowdiest of the 'Ten'; Gerald Mohr adequately provides the required villainy; this was the second product from Norma Productions (which first partnered Lancaster with producer Harold Hecht); writer Roland Kibbee would much later go on to share directorial credit with Lancaster on THE MIDNIGHT MAN (1974; which I will be revisiting presently); associate producer Robert Aldrich would later direct Lancaster in four movies – including TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING (1977; which I'll be viewing for the first time during this ongoing Burt Lancaster tribute); and, most interestingly perhaps, this was multi-talented Willis Goldbeck's most notable directorial effort but, at least two of his screen writing credits are highly impressive indeed: Tod Browning's FREAKS (1932) and John Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962; Goldbeck's last film work)! One final note: after searching high and low for this film on account of a friend of mine who is a big Burt Lancaster fan (and recalls the star's brief sojourn in Malta in the 1970s), ironically, it was he who eventually provided me with a means to catch up with it via a surprisingly well-preserved VHS-sourced copy he acquired!