Desert Command

Desert Command (1946), a feature version of a early John Wayne serial, was one of Republic's attempts to cash in on the box office appeal of one of their stars. In 1933, John Wayne, a struggling B actor, was working in serials for Mascot Pictures, the forerunner to Republic. The Three Musketeers was an updated version of Dumas' adventure classic using Foreign Legionnaires instead of royal swordsmen. The serial was the third of three chapter-plays Wayne made at this time. In 1946, he had become a major star, producing his own films at Republic. Desert Command was designed to play the bottom half of a double bill at second run theaters at a Saturday matinée, where a Roy Rogers or Gene Autry film might be the main feature. Autry had also appeared in a sci-fi western serial for Mascot, "Phantom Empire" which was re-edited into a 1940 feature, "Men With Steel Faces." Other Republic serials re-edited as features included "Hi-Yo Silver" (The Lone Ranger, 1938), Lost Planet Airmen (King of the Rocketmen, 1949), and Zorro Rides Again (same title as 1937 serial). In 1966, to cash in on the Batman "camp" craze, Republic re-released several of their serials as features under different titles for television in the "Century 66" package.

Desert Command (1946)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The French Legionnaires are in the Sahara desert fighting some Arab gunrunners when they run into some trouble. But have no fear because Tom Wayne (John Wayne) comes through with a plane and wipes out the bad guys. Soon he and The Three Musketeers form a friendship and have to try and bring down an evil Arab who is doing illegal things.

DESERT COMMAND is a feature length version of the 1933 serial THE THREE MUSKETEERS. If you're familiar with these feature versions then you know that they usually cut out almost two hours worth of footage and it comes across as a confusing mess. I was shocked to see how this one here managed to tell a pretty straight story and if you didn't already know this was a serial you probably wouldn't even realize that it's missing so much footage.

I found this to be pretty entertaining thanks to a pretty good cast and some of them giving really bad performances. This includes Wayne who is all over the place here, which I was shocked to see. I recently watched a lot of his "B" Westerns from this period and he wasn't nearly as bad in them as he is here. Some of his line delivery is extremely bad but it's still fun seeing him. Lon Chaney, Jr. (still working under his original name) also gives a pretty bad performance as he was still years away from tuning his craft. Noah Beery, Jr. and silent star Francis X. Bushman Jr. are in the supporting cast.

As I said, the story itself holds up fairly well in this 72-minute version but the most impressive thing were the various stunts. I thought the stunt work was extremely good and we got some pretty good action scenes scattered throughout the running time. I'd also argue that the ending, which turns into a semi-horror film, was also quite good. DESERT COMMAND certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's mildly entertaining.

It's interesting that "Desert Command" is a 1946 movie release made from a condensed 1933 film. Apparently, the earlier film, "TheThree Musketeers," was put together from a series of short ones. Two earlier reviewers give some good information on that. In the early years of movies – and through the 1950s as I can recall, the standard movie fare on any given weekend was two movies and a cartoon. One film would be a short or a "B" grade movie. So, it's interesting to see this much later release of snippets put together in a single film from the 1933 film footage.

One thing very noticeable, is the difference in quality that 13 years made. By 1946, John Wayne had been in 110 movies. The quality of the films he had been in the past several years – whether A or B movies, was quite good. So, the snowy, scratchy, poor quality of this Mascot film from 1933 footage really stands out.

This film has lots of the action from the earlier film. But it suffers greatly in the plot, editing and all technical aspects. I think the plot has several holes where scenes don't connect well. For instance, Elaine Corday (played by Ruth Hall) rides to an Arab hideout to report a possible spy to an Arab chieftain. It sure looked like she was part of the evil network of El Shatan. So, when other scenes have her helping one side and then the other, it becomes quite confusing.

This film has some well known names of the time in the cast, besides John Wayne. But aside from the action in a very choppy and disoriented plot, there's little else to recommend it.

Watched this movie on YouTube and looked it up because I thought they had the wrong year of production. I have seen 1946 John Wayne. I know 1946 John Wayne. 1946 John Wayne is a friend of mine. This movie is not 1946 John Wayne. Other reviewers were helpful to inform that this movie is a compilation from a 12 part 1933 serial which was released in 1946 to take advantage of the Duke's stardom. The movie is loaded with stars early in their careers: Lon Chaney, Noah Berry and many others. It is an old serial and it looks like one. I enjoyed it, but if you are looking for a desert movie with high production values and a plot not written by a fifth grader, watch Lawrence of Arabia.

Released in 1946, this feature is cobbled together from a 12 part 1933 Mascot serial, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and purports to be based upon the classic work by Dumas, with the action transferred to the Sahara and involving a struggle of the French Foreign Legion opposite a secret group of Arab villains, with John Wayne's character mentioned in the script as D'Artagnan to a trio of guardsmen. The original serial is grotesquely silly, and this synthesis is, if possible, even worse, with situations and dialogue that are numbingly puerile; however, if the film lacks any direction whatsoever, the viewer cannot fail but be amazed at the athletic equestrian stuntwork of Yakima Canutt and his crew of worthies, actively and dramatically superior as they are to the remainder of the performers.