Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

kapelusznik18 ****SPOILERS**** Love story that takes place in the North African desert involving French legionaries Paul Dumont and his lifelong friend Captain Jean "Birdbrain" -in that he's too slow to figure things out-Birdaux over pretty Helene Laroche played by actress Lorna Gray, who passed away this April 30 2017 just three months shy of her 100th birthday, who's in fact engaged to marry Jean without his friend Paul's knowledge. Paul who' s training g a group of Senegalese paratroopers who all seem to come from Harlem New York to fight the local rampaging Arabs Bedouins who end up capturing Ben Ali the kid brother of Arab guerrillas leader Hassan. It's Hassan whom despite in him pleading to spare his brother's life Jean ends up executing him via a military fire squad.This has Hassen take revenge by having his men kidnap Paul & Helene and threaten to have them shot before sunrise even before they have a chance to eat their last breakfast. It's Captain Birdaux together with the Senegalese paratroopers lead by Sgt. Blue Williams and his second & third in command BoBo and Meathball who storm Hassen's camp and after a wild fire fight rescue the two lovers with Capt. Birdaux ending up seriously wounded. As he's about to go under the Captain gives both Paul and his former fiancée Helena his blessings knowing, in him dying, that he's in no condition to marry her.The movie has Mantan Moreland as tough as nails Senegalese paratrooper commander, straight from East 125th street and 7th Ave in Manhattan, Sgt. Blue Williams in a very rare dramatic and serious role- yet he's still able to get a few laughs in between the shooting- playing it. As for the paratroopers that Sgt. Blue's in charge of this was the first time that they ever took a jump in training as well as combat in their entire lives. Yet they did it as successful and professionally as any hardened member of of the tough US military's 101th airborne division or 82th airborne brigade.

hwg1957-102-265704 Ralph Byrd (the best Dick Tracy) puts on a mustache and plays a French legionnaire who is training a group of Senegalese soldiers how to parachute so that they become a mobile strike force. He also falls in love with his best friend's fiancée accidentally and there is an Arab uprising in the offing too. So a busy film that moves effortlessly along to the final skirmish. It was what Monogram Pictures did, low budget maybe, but entertaining and unpretentious whether it was crime or adventure or drama. The acting from the cast is adequate and happily Mantan Moreland has a bit more chance to act rather than mug, being comic but also serious and sensitive. He does the action more than Ralph Byrd too and even gets to shoot down the main villain. Too often in his film career he played demeaning roles which was shameful as he could act really well when given the chance. Which was not that much.A good programmer then that doesn't outstay its welcome.

ctyankee1 I love Mantan Moreland but I don't like this picture. I have watched a lot of black and white pictures that go back to the 1940s. Mantan Moreland is a great black actor. Funny with big eyes and a high pitched laugh. I am a white female & like mysteries like Charlie Chan. and Mantan is in a lot of them as "Birmingham Brown" I feel this movie degrades the black people especially the men. The reason I don't like this movie is the difference between the parts the black and white actors played. Sgt Williams/Moreland is in charge of a group of all black parachuters. Most of the white military men are in high positions. The parachuters talk on the airplane. The script makes them dumb. Some don't know how to count to ten when they have to jump out of the plane and pull their parachute cord. Sgt Williams tells them what they must do. It seems they were not trained previously.I don't know how it turns out, I stopped watching it. I felt they made the parts of the men that were black, stupid and used their performance as something that was funny to laugh at. I think I saw this awhile back and the parachuters are a part of winning the war.I also watched a movie where Moreland was friends with Frankie Darro a short white actor in "The Gang's All Here" 1941. They were just friends in the movie and Darro was not his boss. Moreland played Jeff & calls Frankie "Mr Frankie" throughout the movie and Frankie played by Frankie Darro call "Jeff" just Jeff.As Christian for a long time watching these older movies gives me a lot of insight on the way people are and were treated. Things I did not notice before I see now and it makes me sad. I am glad God woke me up.

MartinHafer "Drums of the Desert" is an incredibly outdated and bad movie from Monogram Pictures--an ultra-low budget film studio that prided itself in cranking out cheap B-movies very quickly. In the case of this film, however, it's much poorer than average for the tiny studio. How poor? Well, the film is supposed to be about the French Legion in North Africa--yet not a single one of the French people in the film speak with ANY accent other than a 100% American one. No, this isn't because they're supposed to be foreign legionnaires--the film clearly says that many of them are French. But they look and sound about as French as Hattie McDaniel or Keye Luke!! Heck, even Dick Van Dyke's notoriously awful accent in "Mary Poppins" has him TRYING to sound English! Here, Ralph Byrd and the rest don't even bother.The film begins with a French(?) officer (Byrd) meeting a young lady on the ship to North Africa. They soon fall in love. However, when the ship arrives at port, he discovers that she is the fiancé of his best friend--a fellow legion officer!!! Talk about a clichéd situation!! And, you know since this is a crappy film, by the end the fiancé will be worm food and the pair will be able to marry!! All that was left was to figure out what would be in the middle. It wasn't all terrible--but it also is 100% predictable...and a bit racist in how they handle all the Black soldiers from Harlem (or is it Senegal?!). All I know is that on top of being very outdated in how it handled race issues, I also wonder why so many Hollywood films seemed to STRONGLY promote British and French imperialism. It seems that American films should have supported freedom and self-determination...or would that only be for folks that look and sound like us? Unfortunately, at the time this was the case.So is there anything to like about the movie? Not much. While a bit racist in showing them as all very ignorant, the Black soldiers were competent and honorable fighting men. And, some of their dialog was funny. Otherwise, no...there really isn't anything to like about this poorly written and equally poorly acted film.