If you are looking for something new and exciting I cannot recommend this movie. The story is pedestrian, a mixture of Beau Geste and Casablanca. It has been told better.
But there are several points that I found very interesting. For its low budget look this movie has a lot of scenes shot on location in the desert in Morocco. It is not stock footage like, for example, in Fort Algiers, but custom made stuff with an artistic quality that fits in very well with the footage shot on a Hollywood studio lot. Another reviewer suggests that Raft, Windsor and Tamiroff had a nice time in Morocco doing this movie. My guess is that they never left California when working on it. For long or medium range shots some locals took their parts, closer shots are all made with rear projection or on studio sets. This never disturbs the flow of the picture in any way and one might really think the stars are in that faraway country. This shows that some true craftsmen were involved here.
I've seen several films directed by Robert Florey. They are B movies but all have memorable scenes, often related with nature. Like Edgar G. Ulmer, Florey never seems to have lost his artistic ambition, however small the budget, however corny the script. Outpost in Morocco has a well filmed, dramatic climax when the fort is surrounded and the water supply is cut by the assailants. The commanding officer orders the horses to be released into the desert which is a little like dying for the cavalrymen. The scenes showing the horses galloping through the gate of the fortress and out into the desert plain are powerful. The following night the water supply is exhausted. The second in command starts praying, and suddenly the half asleep soldiers hear raindrops fall, one or two splatter on the leaf of a small plant. These really are very poetic moments one would not expect in a run off the mill picture, as are the sometimes interesting camera angles. Incidentally, the set design and the lighting are also very good, compared with pictures like the afore mentioned Fort Algiers.
Fans of Marie Windsor (and there are lots of reasons to be a fan of her) will like this movie. She plays the sheik's thoroughly Westernized daughter which is completely incongruous and nevertheless works amazingly well. I credit this to the talent and commandeering presence of this underrated actress whose sole handicap seemed to have been that she was very tall. At one moment she is seen swimming in a pool, by all appearances completely naked.
But there are several points that I found very interesting. For its low budget look this movie has a lot of scenes shot on location in the desert in Morocco. It is not stock footage like, for example, in Fort Algiers, but custom made stuff with an artistic quality that fits in very well with the footage shot on a Hollywood studio lot. Another reviewer suggests that Raft, Windsor and Tamiroff had a nice time in Morocco doing this movie. My guess is that they never left California when working on it. For long or medium range shots some locals took their parts, closer shots are all made with rear projection or on studio sets. This never disturbs the flow of the picture in any way and one might really think the stars are in that faraway country. This shows that some true craftsmen were involved here.
I've seen several films directed by Robert Florey. They are B movies but all have memorable scenes, often related with nature. Like Edgar G. Ulmer, Florey never seems to have lost his artistic ambition, however small the budget, however corny the script. Outpost in Morocco has a well filmed, dramatic climax when the fort is surrounded and the water supply is cut by the assailants. The commanding officer orders the horses to be released into the desert which is a little like dying for the cavalrymen. The scenes showing the horses galloping through the gate of the fortress and out into the desert plain are powerful. The following night the water supply is exhausted. The second in command starts praying, and suddenly the half asleep soldiers hear raindrops fall, one or two splatter on the leaf of a small plant. These really are very poetic moments one would not expect in a run off the mill picture, as are the sometimes interesting camera angles. Incidentally, the set design and the lighting are also very good, compared with pictures like the afore mentioned Fort Algiers.
Fans of Marie Windsor (and there are lots of reasons to be a fan of her) will like this movie. She plays the sheik's thoroughly Westernized daughter which is completely incongruous and nevertheless works amazingly well. I credit this to the talent and commandeering presence of this underrated actress whose sole handicap seemed to have been that she was very tall. At one moment she is seen swimming in a pool, by all appearances completely naked.