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Lost Command (1966)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 3/25

LostCom
3/25: Why must they insist on making war pictures to bore me to death?

One of them is Lost Command. It's based on a French novel called The Centurions by Jean Lartéguy that became a literary sensation. Dealing with guerilla warfare and terrorism is part of its uniqueness that would foreshadow the wars that the United States got involved with.

Let's be real: who are the bad guys? It's the French who had no business being in Algeria. They're the true murderers, committing crimes against humanity. It first began with the slaughter of up to 12,000 Muslims in Philippeville which set off a war that lasted from 1954 to 1962. As usual, France lost, and Algeria achieved independence. According to one report, "French historians estimate that up to 400,000 Algerians were killed, while the Algerian government says more than one million people died." Many were abused, raped, and tortured as well.

You know who George Segal is...the guy who was Oscar-nominated for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Now, picture him as a dark-skinned Arab. What an embarrassment. They could've gotten somebody else, even a nonprofessional actor, to play Mahidi. How about that Claudia Cardinale? She may be a beauty, but for an Arab, how come she's allowed to walk around in the city without wearing a full Islamic attire?

All in all, no matter how much Anthony Quinn is shown, he can't prevent the awfulness of Lost Command.