The Lost Patrol main backdrop
The Lost Patrol main poster

The Lost Patrol

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6.5/10 • 71

1934-02-161h 13m

ActionWar

Blistering sun... blazing bullets!

A World War I British Army patrol is crossing the Mesopotamian desert when their commanding officer, the only one who knows their destination, is killed by the bullet of unseen bandits. The patrol's sergeant keeps them heading north on the assumption that they will hit their brigade. They stop for the night at an oasis and awaken the next morning to find their horses stolen, their sentry dead, the oasis surrounded and survival difficult.

Directors
John Ford
Editors
Paul Weatherwax

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Victor McLaglen

    Victor McLaglen

    The Sergeant

  2. Boris Karloff

    Boris Karloff

    Sanders

  3. Wallace Ford

    Wallace Ford

    Morelli

  4. Reginald Denny

    Reginald Denny

    Brown

  5. J.M. Kerrigan

    J.M. Kerrigan

    Quincannon

  6. Billy Bevan

    Billy Bevan

    Hale

  7. Alan Hale

    Alan Hale

    Cook

  8. Brandon Hurst

    Brandon Hurst

    Bell

  9. Douglas Walton

    Douglas Walton

    Pearson

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jun 29, 2025

7/10

When the commander of a desert patrol is shot leading his men on a secret mission, nobody left knows where they are supposed to be going but “Sgt. Quincannon” (was it a contractual obligation for Victor McLaglen’s character to be called that?) knows they have to find water and shelter soon. To that end, they head to an oasis where they settle for the night but in the morning discover their horses have been stolen and their sentry killed. Now, with the sun beating down on them and with no idea what they are supposed to be doing now, the psychology of their situation starts to affect each man in different ways. They know that any wrong move will likely leave them fodder for the snipers who killed their captain, but pretty soon their discipline becomes compromised and the sergeant has his work cut out for him. Amongst his troop is bible-thumping “Sanders” (Boris Karloff) who proves increasingly zealous and there’s also quite a gently effective effort from Reginald Denny as an officer and a gentlemen determined to hold on to some semblance of civilised behaviour as their unseen enemy hides in the dunes. I quite like these siege scenarios where each of the characters can have their own few moments in the sun, and for the most part John Ford allows each of this small troop to bring a different perspective to their predicament, but essentially this is all about Karloff and an on-form McLaglen that is slowly but effectively paced with quite a degree of jeopardy right until the conclusion.

Media

  • The Lost Patrol poster
  • The Lost Patrol poster
  • The Lost Patrol poster
  • The Lost Patrol poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
snipermiddle eastambushworld war ibritish armydesert oasispatroldesertpre-codemesopotamia