The French Foreign Legion movie usually ranked as one of Hollywood's most enjoyable sub-genres, and this is a good though undistinguished example of it. If it doesn't quite match 1953's "Desert Legion," it's probably because of a tongue-in-cheek tone which sometimes seems a bit juvenile, and because of an unconvincing leading lady -- Jody Lawrance -- who seems more North Hollywood than North Africa.
However, Burt Lancaster shone in this kind of adventure and you don't have to wait long before he has his shirt off in a bathtub scene. He also winds up, as was often the case, in a beefcake-bondage scene which has him bound with outstretched arms inside the villain's tent. "I imagine it'll be dawn before you finally die," the villain says. "I should like to watch your entire performance ... to the very end."
The villain then nods toward a wizened Arab who's gleefully heating up a variety of branding irons to be used on Lancaster's sweaty face and naked torso. "You'd be surprised at how much Tarik can get from even the most phlegmatic types."
Lancaster's back got lashed in "Rope of Sand" and "Kiss the Blood Off My Hands," so it'd be a switch to see his chest bear the brunt of the torture for a change, but circumstances spare him from such a fate.
Incidentally, this being the prudish era of the early 1950s, Lancaster's pants during this bondage scene are worn high enough to cover his navel.
However, Burt Lancaster shone in this kind of adventure and you don't have to wait long before he has his shirt off in a bathtub scene. He also winds up, as was often the case, in a beefcake-bondage scene which has him bound with outstretched arms inside the villain's tent. "I imagine it'll be dawn before you finally die," the villain says. "I should like to watch your entire performance ... to the very end."
The villain then nods toward a wizened Arab who's gleefully heating up a variety of branding irons to be used on Lancaster's sweaty face and naked torso. "You'd be surprised at how much Tarik can get from even the most phlegmatic types."
Lancaster's back got lashed in "Rope of Sand" and "Kiss the Blood Off My Hands," so it'd be a switch to see his chest bear the brunt of the torture for a change, but circumstances spare him from such a fate.
Incidentally, this being the prudish era of the early 1950s, Lancaster's pants during this bondage scene are worn high enough to cover his navel.