The Last Remake of Beau Geste

2024-08-12T12:57:07Z

147.161.246.196:

{{Short description|1977 film by Marty Feldman}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Last Remake of Beau Geste
| image = The last remake poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster by [[Drew Struzan]]
| director = [[Marty Feldman]]
| producer = {{Plainlist|
* William S. Gilmore
* George Shapiro
* Howard West
* [[Bernard Williams (producer)|Bernie Williams]]<ref name=thr>{{cite news|first=Mike |last=Barnes |title=Bernard Williams, Producer on 'A Clockwork Orange' and 'Ragtime,' Dies at 72 |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bernard-williams-producer-a-clockwork-763125 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=2015-01-12 |access-date=2015-01-24}}</ref>
}}
| screenplay = Chris Allen <br>Marty Feldman
| story = [[Sam Bobrick]] <br>Marty Feldman
| based_on = ''[[Beau Geste]]'' by [[P.C. Wren]]
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Marty Feldman]]
* [[Michael York]]
* [[Ann-Margret]]
* [[Peter Ustinov]]
* [[James Earl Jones]]
* [[Trevor Howard]]
* [[Henry Gibson]]
* [[Roy Kinnear]]
* [[Spike Milligan]]
* [[Terry-Thomas]]
}}
| music = [[John Morris (composer)|John Morris]]
| cinematography = [[Gerry Fisher]]
| editing = [[Jim Clark (film editor)|Jim Clark]] <br>[[Arthur Schmidt (film editor)|Arthur Schmidt]]
| distributor = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|1977|7|15}}
| runtime = 85 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget = $4 million<ref name="bart">Movies: Marty Feldman (Or How He Fell Into the Director's Chair) BY BART MILLS [[Los Angeles Times]] 22 May 1977: x29.</ref>
}}

'''''The Last Remake of Beau Geste''''' is a 1977 British [[historical film|historical]] [[comedy film]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E07E3DA173BE133A25755C1A9619C946690D6CF|title=Movie Review|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=16 July 1977 |accessdate=2016-09-10|last1=Canby |first1=Vincent }}</ref> directed, co-written and starring [[Marty Feldman]]. It is a satire loosely based on the 1924 novel ''[[Beau Geste]]'', a frequently-filmed story of brothers and their adventures in the [[French Foreign Legion]]. The humor is based heavily upon wordplay and absurdity. Feldman plays Digby Geste, the awkward and clumsy "[[identical twin]]" brother of [[Michael York]]'s Beau, the dignified, aristocratic swashbuckler.

It was the feature film directorial debut of Feldman. He subsequently went on to direct ''[[In God We Tru$t]]'' (1980).

== Plot ==
Spoofing the classic ''Beau Geste'' and a number of other desert motion pictures, the film's plotline revolves around the heroic Beau Geste (York) and his "identical twin brother" Digby's (Feldman) misadventures in the [[French Foreign Legion]] out in the [[Sahara]], and the disappearance of the family sapphire, sought after by their money-hungry stepmother and the sadistic Sergeant Markov (Ustinov).

==Cast==
* [[Marty Feldman]] as Digby Geste
* [[Michael York]] as Beau Geste
* [[Ann-Margret]] as Flavia Geste
* [[Peter Ustinov]] as the brutal Sergeant Markov
* [[Sinéad Cusack]] as sister Isabel Geste
* [[Trevor Howard]] as Sir Hector
* [[Spike Milligan]] as Crumble the Butler
* [[Burt Kwouk]] as Father Shapiro
* [[James Earl Jones]] as Arab Chief
* [[Avery Schreiber]] as Arab Chieftain / Used Camel Salesman
* [[Terry-Thomas]] as Warden
* [[Henry Gibson]] as General Pecheur
* [[Roy Kinnear]] as Corporal Boldini
* [[Irene Handl]] as Miss Wormwood
* [[Hugh Griffith]] as Judge
* [[Stephen Lewis (actor)|Stephen Lewis]] as Henshaw
* [[Ed McMahon]] as Arab Horseman
* [[Mícheál Mac Donncha|Michael McConkey]] as young Digby
* [[Roland MacLeod]] as Dr. Crippen
* Martin Snaric as Valentino

==Production==
===Development===
Feldman had appeared in two film spoofs made by actor-writer-directors, Mel Brooks' ''[[Young Frankenstein]]'' and Gene Wilder's ''[[The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother]]''. In 1976, Feldman signed with [[Universal Pictures]] for a five picture deal to direct, write, and act in films, beginning with ''The Last Remake of Beau Geste''.<ref>MOVIE CALL SHEET: Rudolph's Version of Isolation
Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 6 Feb 1976: e8.</ref>

Feldman states in ''eyE Marty'', his posthumously published autobiography, that when he originally suggested a film called ''The Last Remake of Beau Geste'' to Universal, he was not only joking but also "thinking of the wrong foreign-legion film. The film I was thinking about was called ''[[Four Feathers|The Four Feathers]]''."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Feldman|first1=Marty|title=eyE Marty: The Official Autobiography of Marty Feldman|date=2016|publisher=Rare Bird Books|page=201}}</ref>

"We see Marty as a triple threat artist," said a Universal spokesman. "Marty is like a throwback to the old silent comics who could do it all. It doesn't matter that he's British because physical gags travel. That's why he has a major future ahead of him and why we've made a major, major investment in Marty at Universal."<ref name="mills">Foreign lesion
Mills, Bart. The Guardian 15 Sep 1976: 6.</ref>

"Everybody has a five picture deal," said Feldman. "Until the first picture bombs. Then they have a no picture deal."<ref name="marty">'Marty Feldman': Say That With a Straight Face
Levine, Joan. Los Angeles Times 23 May 1976: p39.</ref>

Feldman called it a "broad comic parody".<ref>Behind Marty Feldman's zany brand of comedy: 'I learn as I go' explains the film-TV star Writing skills Wilder's film Total involvement Acting start
By David Sterritt. The Christian Science Monitor 26 May 1976: 26.</ref> He wrote it during and after the making of ''Sherlock Holmes''.<ref name="mills"/>

"There's the whole idea of dying nobly, a bull---- idea. The film will poke fun at the way people think about war, dying for flags instead of people, heroism. There is a serious element in all comedy... the two overlap and merge. I see life as absurd and there's dignity in the absurd. Keaton had it. Chaplin had it. Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce. What we're saying about life is laugh."<ref name="clown"/>

"I didn't want to work with clowns but actors who can clown," he said.<ref name="clown">MOVIE CALL SHEET: Universal Fetes 'Digby' Feldman
Lee, Grant. Los Angeles Times 5 July 1976: e10.</ref>

===Shooting===
Filming began 30 August 1976.<ref>FILM CLIPS: Rich Man's Rich Heroine
Kilday, Gregg. Los Angeles Times 24 July 1976: b7.</ref>

The film was shot on location in [[Spain]], and in [[Ireland]] at [[Ardmore Studios]] in [[Bray, County Wicklow|Bray]], and on location at [[Kilmainham Gaol]] in [[Dublin]] and [[Adare Manor]] near [[Limerick]].

Filming was difficult, with the shoot plagued by excessive rain in [[Madrid]].<ref>Spain's rain: no jest
Norman, Barry. The Guardian 17 Nov 1976: 8.</ref> Feldman also fell ill with [[chicken pox]] and production was suspended while he went away to recover.

The film went over budget and over schedule.<ref name="trailers">{{cite web|website=Trailers From Hell|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tZvCi4SolA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/8tZvCi4SolA |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=The Last Remake of Beau Geste}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

After completing his cut of the film, Universal sent Feldman on a two-week "working vacation." While he was gone, Universal recut the film and had [[John Morris (composer)|John Morris]] compose a new score. Feldman's friend [[Alan Spencer]] said the two cuts were markedly different - Feldman's was more surreal and [[Monty Python|Pythonesque]], whereas Universal's told a more conventional story. The Universal version ended with a scene where Feldman's began, because his was told in flashback. Spencer says both versions were tested before audiences, and Feldman's version tested better, but Universal ultimately released their cut of the film.<ref name="trailers"/>

== Reception ==
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has an approval rating of 50% based on 14 reviews.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_remake_of_beau_geste/ |title=The Last Remake of Beau Geste |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107231412/http://www.rottentomatoes.com:80/m/last_remake_of_beau_geste/ |archive-date=2012-01-07 |access-date=2022-01-25 }}</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote a positive review of the film, describing it as having "a whole range of jokes that are funny primarily because they are in absolutely terrible taste."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/16/archives/last-beau-geste-is-the-funniestthe-cast.html |title='Last Beau Geste' Is the Funniest:The Cast |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=16 July 1977 | access-date=2016-09-10|last1=Canby |first1=Vincent }}</ref> [[Gene Siskel]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and called it "only a slightly above-average comedy. It starts out with a number of funny sequences, and Feldman is funny-looking for a few minutes. But I don't find him interesting enough or funny enough or likable enough to carry an entire movie."<ref>Siskel, Gene (August 5, 1977). "'Geste' just not jest it should be". ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. Section 2, p. 3.</ref> Arthur D. Murphy of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote that the film "emerges as an often hilarious, if uneven, spoof of Foreign Legion films ... An excellent cast, top to bottom, gets the most out of the stronger scenes, and carries the weaker ones."<ref>Murphy, Arthur D. (July 13, 1977). "Film Reviews: The Last Remake Of Beau Geste". ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''. 18.</ref> [[Charles Champlin]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' wrote, "There are too few jokes and rapturous inventions to sustain even the movie's brief 85 minutes, some of those that exist are strained too hard and some should have been dropped after the first draft. It gets to be a long siege at the fort."<ref>Champlin, Charles (July 15, 1977). "Less Here Than Meets the Eye". ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Part IV, p. 1.</ref> Gary Arnold of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote, "Although there's no difference in the games they like to play, Feldman seems a shaky, bush-league terrible joker compared to a prodigal, big-league terrible joker like [Mel] [[Mel Brooks|Brooks]] ... Feldman often seems uncertain about whether a sight gag will pay off, so to reassure himself, he'll run it into the ground."<ref>Arnold, Gary (July 15, 1977). "Marty Feldman 's Last Remake of Beau Geste': A Poor Jest". ''[[The New York Times]]''. B9.</ref> [[Penelope Gilliatt]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' called the film "recklessly funny" and "a hilarious exercise in taste run amok."<ref>Gilliatt, Penelope (July 25, 1977). "The Current Cinema". ''[[The New Yorker]]''. 78.</ref> [[Tom Milne]] of ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' declared it "a ragbag of a film which looks like nothing so much as a ''Monty Python'' extravaganza in which inspiration has run dry and the comic timing gone sadly awry."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Milne |first=Tom |date=December 1977 |title=The Last Remake of Beau Geste |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=44 |issue=527 |page=261 }}</ref>

The film was described as a "surprise hit" and Feldman was able to direct a second film for Universal, ''[[In God We Tru$t]]'', released in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORXltv0tVfw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/ORXltv0tVfw |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=In God We Trust|website=Trailers from Hell}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== Release ===
Feldman was angry with Universal for distributing their recut of the film. Attempts have been made since his death in 1982 to have the director's cut released, but so far have been unsuccessful. According to Michael York, "Marty's version was much funnier." The film was released on DVD in the US on January 11, 2010 as part of the Universal Vault Series of DVD-on-Demand titles, sold by [[Amazon.com]], in the UK, the film was released through Second Sight Films on January 24, 2011.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Last Remake of Beau Geste ::DVD Movies Coming Soon:: Second Sight Films|url=http://www.secondsightfilms.co.uk/coming_soon.php?a=159|website=Secondsightfilms.co.uk|accessdate=2016-09-10|archive-date=2012-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311145932/http://www.secondsightfilms.co.uk/coming_soon.php?a=159|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Kino Lorber]] released a Blu-ray special edition of "The Last Remake of Beau Geste" <ref>{{cite news | title = The Last Remake of Beau Geste | url=https://www.kinolorber.com/product/the-last-remake-of-beau-geste-special-editon-blu-ray}}</ref> featuring a commentary from [[Alan Spencer]] that verbally recreates Feldman's cut.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0076297}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=80920}}

{{Beau Geste}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Remake of Beau Geste, The}}
[[Category:1977 films]]
[[Category:1970s parody films]]
[[Category:American parody films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Marty Feldman]]
[[Category:Films scored by John Morris]]
[[Category:Films about the French Foreign Legion]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films set in deserts]]
[[Category:Remakes of American films]]
[[Category:1977 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1977 comedy films]]
[[Category:1970s historical comedy films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s American films]]

The Goon Show Depository - User contributions [en]

The Last Remake of Beau Geste