BEAU SABREUR (1928) Silent

[coopfan]

This silent romantic adventure is set in the Sahara desert, and purports to be a sequel to the successful Beau Geste. Like the first, it is based on a story by Christopher Wren and features members from the original cast. The story begins as three Legionnaires do not return promptly from furlough and end up in the poky. There, the hero duels with a traitor and wins, causing him to gain the designation "Beau Sabreur." Later he is sent into the desert to learn the ways of the Arabs and to help forge a peace treaty. There he encounters a lovely American journalist. Meanwhile the defeated traitor tries to stop the treaty from going through. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The director's job was first given to 'Cruze, James' , then 'Wellman, William A.' , and finally John Waters (I).

Wellman asked to be released because, after Wings (1927), he thought he deserved better than a cut-rate sequel using stock footage. He was taken off this movie and assigned The Legion of the Condemned (1928) -- a cut-rate followup using stock footage. See also Beau Geste (1939).

'Ralston, Esther' was originally cast as Mary before the part went to 'Brent, Evelyn' .

The characters of 'Beery, Noah' and 'Powell, William' died in the original Beau Geste (1926); in this sequel the actors return but play different characters.

This film is presumed lost. Please check your attic.

Although a lost film, the trailer survived and is one of the 50 films in the 3-disk boxed DVD set called "More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894-1931" (2004), compiled by the National Film Preservation Foundation from 5 American film archives. It is preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and has a running time of 55 seconds.

cast for 'Beau Sabreur'

Gary Cooper - Maj. Henri de Beaujolais
Evelyn Brent - May Vanbrugh
Noah Beery, Sr. - Sheikh El Hamel
William Powell - Becque
Mitchell Lewis - Suleiman the Strong
Frank Reicher - Gen. de Beaujolais
Alberto Morin - Bit part
Arnold Kent - Raoul de Redon
Joan Standing - Maudie
Oscar Smith - Djikki
Raoul Paoli - Dufour
Roscoe Karns - Buddy

production credits

Rose E. Loewinger - Editor
Charles E. Schoenbaum - Cinematographer
Adolph Zukor - Producer
John Waters - Director
Tom J. Geraghty - Screenwriter
Percival Christopher Wren - Short Story Author
Julian Johnson - Intertitle Writer
Jesse Lasky - Producer

Run Time: 67 minutes

[coopfan]

Below is a link to the entire on line ebook:

gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601261h.html

More Treasures from American Film Archives 1894-1931 dvd link:

www.amazon.com/More-Treasures-American-Archives-1894-1931/dp/B0002JP1VW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-5275757-8546243?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1179922578&sr=1-2

[*~Mrs. Cooper ~*]

Wow, that DVD archives thing is huge and for $50. Is Beau in there?

And thanks for the book!! I can't wait to read it!

I wanna see this so badly but it's a darn shame that it's lost. I'm so curious to see it, of course, because of Gary, but also because it's the first of "Beau Geste". Gosh, that oughtta be interesting to see him play it younger and in a silent. I wanna see the ending!!

[*~Mrs. Cooper ~*]

Parount, which had a great deal of desert footage left from its brilliant 1926 production of Beau Geste, needed a suitable vehicle for Evelyn Brent (a success in von Sternberg's Underworld) and, further, wanted to try Gary Cooper out in a romantic part, so Beau Sabreur was whipped up. The end result was totally unsatisfactory, despite the facts that Cooper and Brent were a good team and the production was given good mounting. As a "studio sequel" to a literary classic, the film disappointed the public and critics alike.

Motion Picture News knocked, "Beau Sabreur merely goes over familiar ground. It is well-enough staged, and is competently acted by Noah Beery. Gary Cooper is too grim as the hero, but Evelyn Brent reveals acting ability which shows that her talent flashed in Underworld is genuine." Film Daily disagreed, saying "Gary Cooper carries the hero part well. Evelyn Brent makes silly love interest worthwhile. William Powell a great heavy, as usual."

Variety declared, "Coper makes a passable hero, Miss Brent leaves the imprint of having been miscast, and Beery is under heavy wraps, histrionically and physically, so that he doesn't help much on performance. This tale is far under the horsepower of which "Geste" could boast, and all in all is amongst the weakest features that Paramount has shown lately. It's hardly likely to receive favorable word-of-mouth exploitation."


...I still wanna see it.

[coopfan]

Oh Golly, I forgot to post that book link over at TCM...

[coopfan]

There is only a trailer included on the Americian Footage archives dvd box set which is why I haven't bought it yet. If I ever do buy it though you know that you will be the first person I make a copy of it and send to you

[*~Mrs. Cooper ~*]

I almost fell out of my seat with that one! Oh Dan thank you, thank you!!
And same goes for you if I ever get anything online - you'll be the first person I send it to.

[coopfan]

Why thankyou Kim

P.S. I will be praying that Lynn joins back up here to talk with us

[coopsgirl]

I got my dvd's yesterday of the American Film Treasury stuff that has the Beau Sabreur trailer on it. I watched it first and man I wish we still had this one b/c it looks really cool. Unfortunately I can't get past the copyright protection to upload it. So I just played it on my laptop and took some pics. You can only see Gary for a few seconds at the beginning as Evelyn Brent helps him with his uniform.

[img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/IMG_4520.jpg" src="

[img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/IMG_4521.jpg" src="

[img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/IMG_4522.jpg" src="

[img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/IMG_4523.jpg" src="

[img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/IMG_4524.jpg" src="

[img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/IMG_4526.jpg" src="

[img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/IMG_4527.jpg" src="

[img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/IMG_4529.jpg" src="


Here's what they had to say about it in the book that came with the set.

Beau Sabreur (1928), promoted as "the answer" to the popular Beau Geste (1926), was another french foreign legion tale from the same novelist, with twenty-six year old Gary Cooper taking over the lead from Ronald Colman. The New York Times reported, "It may not have that ingenious suspense that dominated Beau Geste, but it is not a film that one cares to turn away from, not even for a fraction of a second," and it "has the additional asset of being beautiful and intelligent."

[butterscotchgreer]

oh my goodness!!!!

angie we have to find it!

we need it!

those screen caps are heavenly, gary is just so handsome in them, you know i dont think we will ever find a picture where he isnt the most handsome man!!