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Lost Command

  • 1966
  • Approved
  • 2h 9m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
Anthony Quinn, Claudia Cardinale, and Alain Delon in Lost Command (1966)
Official Trailer
Play trailer3:01
1 Video
99+ Photos
ActionDramaWar

French Army colonel Raspeguy leads his paratroopers in battle against the Communist Viet Minh in Indochina and against Algerian guerrillas during the Algerian War.French Army colonel Raspeguy leads his paratroopers in battle against the Communist Viet Minh in Indochina and against Algerian guerrillas during the Algerian War.French Army colonel Raspeguy leads his paratroopers in battle against the Communist Viet Minh in Indochina and against Algerian guerrillas during the Algerian War.

  • Director
    • Mark Robson
  • Writers
    • Nelson Gidding
    • Jean Lartéguy
  • Stars
    • Anthony Quinn
    • Alain Delon
    • George Segal
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    2.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Mark Robson
    • Writers
      • Nelson Gidding
      • Jean Lartéguy
    • Stars
      • Anthony Quinn
      • Alain Delon
      • George Segal
    • 21User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Lost Command
    Trailer 3:01
    Lost Command

    Photos106

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    Top cast39

    Edit
    Anthony Quinn
    Anthony Quinn
    • Lt. Col. Pierre Raspeguy
    Alain Delon
    Alain Delon
    • Captain Philippe Esclavier
    George Segal
    George Segal
    • Lt. Mahidi
    Michèle Morgan
    Michèle Morgan
    • Countess Nathalie de Clairefons
    • (as Michele Morgan)
    Maurice Ronet
    Maurice Ronet
    • Captain Boisfeuras
    Claudia Cardinale
    Claudia Cardinale
    • Aicha Mahidi
    Grégoire Aslan
    Grégoire Aslan
    • Dr. Ali Ben Saad
    • (as Gregoire Aslan)
    Jean Servais
    Jean Servais
    • General Melies
    Maurice Sarfati
    • Merle
    Jean-Claude Bercq
    Jean-Claude Bercq
    • Orsini
    Syl Lamont
    • Verte
    Jacques Marin
    Jacques Marin
    • Mayor
    Jean-Paul Moulinot
    • DeGuyot
    • (as Jean Paul Moulinot)
    Andrés Monreal
    • Ahmed
    • (as Andres Monreal)
    Gordon Heath
    • Dia
    Albert Simono
    • Sapinsky
    • (as Simono)
    René Havard
    • Fernand
    • (as Rene Havard)
    Armand Mestral
    Armand Mestral
    • Administration Officer
    • Director
      • Mark Robson
    • Writers
      • Nelson Gidding
      • Jean Lartéguy
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews21

    6.32.5K
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    Featured reviews

    MovieIQTest

    How come?

    The Viet Cong commander spoke Chinese Contonese dialect to his troops and his troops responded in Cantonese too? How come the French commander still had the fun, splashing water to his fellow soldiers when trudging across the river?

    The fighting scenes were well arranged, but all the scenes after the French troops became POWs were unbelievably absurd. Then all the scenes with women were simply too Hollywood soapy and disgustingly lame.
    Piper12

    If You Liked "Zulu," You'll Like "The Lost Command"

    Perhaps because it came out so soon after Pontecorvo's classic "La Battaglia di Algeri" (The Battle of Algiers), "The Lost Command" got, well, lost. That's too bad, because I saw this movie only once about 20 years ago, but still recall it vividly as a surprisingly well-done action film spiced with social commentary that doesn't overwhelm the whole.

    Anthony Quinn is especially believable as a hard-bitten professional soldier who manages to rise to high command in spite of his peasant birth. Alain Delon is his pretty boy right-hand and George Segal has a particularly interesting turn as an Arab serving with Quinn and Delon in Indochina at the film's beginning who is radicalized upon returning to his native Algeria and takes up arms against his former comrades.

    The highlight of the film is its retelling of the Battle of Algiers, with Quinn in the role of the real-life para colonel Jacques Massieu.

    The battle scenes are well-done and realistic, especially the opening sequence, which is set in the final, desperate hours at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Despite being well-made and underrated, this film is not often shown on television, so you'll probably have to rent it.
    8Theo Robertson

    A Thinking Man`s War Film

    Remember that Henry Fonda movie THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE ? That`s the war movie that was set in the fog shrouded snow bound forests of the Ardennes in December 1944 but for some reason the movie`s big set piece battle takes place on an arid desert plain . LOST COMMAND starts with a very similar error in geography involving the battle of Dien Bien Phu where the French built a heavily fortified base in the middle of a mountainous jungle in 1954 , except this film would have us believe that the battle took place in the middle of a desert !

    But I`m more than willing to forgive this goof as LOST COMMAND is a good film , it`s maybe not a great film but if you like action adventure / war films you`ll hopefully enjoy this as much as I did and director / Producer Mark Robson should be congratulated for making a film showing the French fighting man in a good light . Say what you like about French political leaders but France does have a long noble military tradition with a glorious defeat being every bit as courageous as a glorious victory . But the screenplay doesn`t glorify conflict and rightly points out that violence breeds violence , it pits former friends against one another , and it`s always the most innocent who suffer the most
    9bkoganbing

    Reasserting Colonialism

    The more honored documentary like film, The Battle for Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo is considered the last cinema word on the subject of the title and this film is often overlooked. Yet Lost Command has a lot to recommend it and it's a pity it doesn't get more acclaim than it does.

    This is a retelling of a part of the Algerian War for Independence which ate like a cancer at the French body politic. For reasons best left to French historians, the Fourth Republic of France when it was created after World War II, decided to reassert it's sovereignty over its colonial possessions. France was then involved with a whole lot of brushfire wars in its colonies.

    The film opens actually in French Indochina at the Battle of Dienbienphu where the French got themselves surrounded and the guerrillas they had been fighting for years came out in the open. Among others surrendering was Anthony Quinn's regiment of paratroopers which included the unit historian Alain Delon and George Segal an Algerian Moslem serving in the French army.

    Quinn is a tough and charismatic leader of his troops who's risen up through the ranks to become a Lieutenant Colonel. He's not got any family connections, but he's not above making a few of his own by romancing the widow of his commander Michelle Morgan to get out of the doghouse he's found himself in. The French army as in the days of Dreyfus is looking for scapegoats for Dienbienphu.

    Quinn gets command of a new unit of paratroopers assigned to Algeria and upon getting there finds his old comrade Segal now thoroughly radicalized and fighting for independence. Quinn sees an opportunity for promotion and a chance to clear himself if he does a good job in Algeria. Delon is horrified by the brutality of the war on both sides, even more so when he's made a fool of by Claudia Cardinale who is Segal's sister and seduces him into allowing her access to the French command headquarters.

    Though the French gave independence to their other African colonies like French West and French Equatorial Africa and Tunisia and Morocco, for some reason they wanted to hang on in Algeria. In their minds they deluded themselves into thinking that it was part of metropolitan France. After the action in this film concludes, the Fifth Republic was formed and Charles DeGaulle returned to power for the express reason of dealing with the bloody war in Algeria. Only DeGaulle had the prestige and clout to get the French to quit Algeria. It was a personal and political risky position to take as DeGaulle soon found out. Time has proved the wisdom of what DeGaulle did.

    In a way all of the leading characters either get what they want or are proved right. You'll have to see the film to get my meaning.

    The film was shot in Spain which served as Algeria. The battle scenes are excellently done and the players are all well cast. By all means catch this film if it is shown on television.
    6scheelj

    3.5 out of 5 action rating

    See it – This isn't a great war movie, but it's a pretty good action movie. Anthony Quinn leads French commandoes against a band of rebels in the Algerian War for Independence. The title is a bit misleading. It's not about a group of men who have gotten "lost" behind enemy lines. It's about Quinn's character, who loses command of his unit after a campaign in Middle China, and is given one last chance in Algeria to redeem himself. Willing to do anything to complete his mission, Quinn and his men tread the path of anti-heroes. The story doesn't flow particularly well, but the action and adventure is definitely there.

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    Related interests

    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
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    Band of Brothers (2001)
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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Movie was banned in France for over 10 years. Subsequent French releases were heavily edited until the full DVD-release in 2002.
    • Goofs
      The Vietminh Commander played by Burt Kwouk is speaking Cantonese, a southern Chinese dialect, and not Vietnamese.
    • Quotes

      Merle: A message from the airforce, sir. In 10 minutes, they will be overhead to drop in reinforcements!

      Lt. Col. Pierre Raspeguy: We haven't got enough firepower left to cover them, they'll be slaughtered before they hit the ground, get back on the radio and warn them off.

      Merle: Right sir!

      [command bunker with radio blown up]

      Merle: [picking up broken pieces of radio] Poor devils, they'll be here in a few minutes!

      Lt. Col. Pierre Raspeguy: Well, what the hell can I do!

    • Connections
      Referenced in How to Succeed with Brunettes (1967)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 1966 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Vietnamese
      • Cantonese
      • French
    • Also known as
      • From Indo-China to the Gates of Algiers
    • Filming locations
      • Adra, Almería, Andalucía, Spain
    • Production company
      • Red Lion
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 2h 9m(129 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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