''Outpost in Morocco'' is a 1949 American

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by

Robert Florey Robert Florey (14 September 1900 – 16 May 1979) was a French-American director, screenwriter, film journalist and actor. Born as Robert Fuchs in Paris, he became an orphan at an early age and was then raised in Switzerland. In 1920 he worked a ...

, starring

George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...

and

Marie Windsor Marie Windsor (born Emily Marie Bertelsen; December 11, 1919 – December 10, 2000) was an American actress known for her femme fatale characters in the classic film noir features ''Force of Evil'', ''The Narrow Margin'' and '' The Killing''. Wi ...

. Paul Gerard (Raft), a Moroccan Spahi officer and his

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army ...

garrison, holds off attacks from the native tribes of the

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

of Bel-Rashad ( Eduard Franz), the father of Cara (Windsor), the woman he loves. As a rarity amongst American films of the Foreign Legion genre, the Legion cooperated with the producers. A

second unit Second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming stag ...

led by Robert Rossen filmed scenes in Morocco. Some of the large-scale action scenes of the film were reused in '' Fort Algiers'' and '' Legion of the Doomed''.

Plot summary

Spahi Spahis () were light-cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now ...

Captain Paul Gerard is assigned to lead a patrol to the city of Bel-Rashad en route to a French Foreign Legion fort. Gerard is to escort the Emir's daughter, Cara, who has been studying in France, to Bel-Rashad that is off limits to Frenchmen and investigate whether there may be anti-French activity in the city. On their ten-day journey Gerard and Cara fall in love. Leaving Cara at Bel-Rashad, Gerard reports to the Legion fort commanded by Commandant Fronval and his executive officer Lieutenant Glysko, a former

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

. One night at the Legion outpost, a sentry is shot by a sniper with all agreeing the bullet did not come from a usual musket. Gerard infiltrates Bel-Rashad discovering the locals are being armed with modern Mauser rifles. Detected, Gerard grabs a rifle and fights his way out being hidden by Cara in her room until he makes his escape. At the Legion fort it is agreed that Gerard must personally inform headquarters of these new developments. Leading a strong patrol back to the fort they discover that the fort has been destroyed with one wall being obliterated and all the Legionnaires are dead. Some of the Legionnaires, including Commandant Fronval, are found bound and executed. Gerard orders a raid of Bel-Rashad in retaliation led by Lt. Glysko to capture the Emir. The Emir is out rallying the tribes but Glysko brings back Cara as a hostage. As the Legion has no cement, the wall is repaired with mud. The Emir lays siege to the fort, and diverts the river that leads to the fort's water supply with dynamite. Encouraged by his initial victory, the Emir hopes to unite all the tribes against the French. However, due to feelings of loyalty, gratitude or fear, none of the other tribes wish to attack the French. Faced with no water, Gerard plans a breakout and releases Cara. After Glysko prays to God, a rainstorm comes encouraging the garrison but destroying the mud built wall. After the rain Gerard orders the approach route to the destroyed wall planted with landmines and covered by machine guns that he figures the Emir will use as his route of attack. At dawn the Emir leads his tribe to overrun the fort through the open wall. Cara tries to stop his attack. As Gerard sees her riding into the minefield to see her father, Gerard sadly orders the detonation of the mines and the

crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. S ...

to begin that wipes out the Emir, Cara and their tribe. The film ends with tribal leaders ordering their warriors to lay down their rifles in front of Gerard and his officers, in acknowledgement that order has been restored in Bel-Rashad.

Cast

as Capt. Paul Gerard *

as Cara *

Akim Tamiroff Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff, russian: Аким Михайлович Тамиров (born Hovakim Tamiryants; October 29, 1899 – September 17, 1972) was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television. One of the premier character ac ...

as Lt. Glysko *

John Litel John Beach Litel (December 30, 1892 – February 3, 1972) was an American film and television actor. Early life Litel was born in Albany, Wisconsin. During World War I, he enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery. Ba ...

as Col. Pascal *

Ernő Verebes Ernő Verebes (born Ernst Weiss, December 6, 1902 – June 13, 1971) was a Hungarian-American actor who began his career in Hungarian silent films in 1915. During his film career he worked and lived in Hungary, Germany and in the United States. ...

as Bamboule – Gerard's spahi orderly * Eduard Franz as Emir of Bel-Rashad * Crane Whitley as Caid Osman * Damian O'Flynn as Commandant Louis Fronval *

Michael Ansara Michael George Ansara (April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013) was an American actor. He portrayed Cochise in the television series '' Broken Arrow'', Kane in the 1979–1981 series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', Commander Kang in '' Star Tr ...

as Rifle Dispenser (uncredited) * Ralph Brooks as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) * John Doucette as Card-playing soldier (uncredited) * James Nolan as Legionnaire Colonel Pascal's aide (uncredited) *

Suzanne Ridgeway Suzanne Ridgeway (born Suzanne Parsons; January 27, 1918May 6, 1996) was an American film actress who appeared in approximately 115 films between 1933 and 1959. She was most often credited as Suzanne Ridgway. Other billings included Suzy Marquett ...

as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) *

Ivan Triesault Ivan Triesault (born Johann Constantin Treisalt; in Reval (now Tallinn) – January 3, 1980 in Los Angeles) was an Estonian-American actor. His parents were from the island of Hiiumaa. Life His first stage appearance was at the German Theat ...

as Tribal Leader (uncredited)

Production

''Outpost in Morocco'' was originally meant to be made by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

in 1939, based on a story by producer

Joseph Ermolieff Joseph N. Ermolieff (1889–1962) was a Russian-born film producer. Ermolieff was a prominent figure in early Russian cinema during the Russian Empire, Imperial era, owning large studios in Yalta and Moscow. He fled to France following the Russian ...

. It was cancelled following the declaration of World War II, leading to Ermolieff suing RKO. Ermolieff later succeeded in setting up the film with actor George Raft and producer Sam Bischoff, who had just created a company, Star Films, who had produced the film '' Intrigue''. ''Outpost in Morocco'' would be their second film. (The company intended to make ''Mississippi Gambler'' and a fourth film set in Panama.) It was not a typical film for Raft. Ermolieff and Star films created the company, Moroccan Films, and obtained finance from Pathe Cinemas of France. The company got permission to actually film in Morocco using the real Foreign Legion. Raft travelled to Morocco in December 1947 with second unit director

Richard Rosson Richard Rosson (April 4, 1893 – May 31, 1953) was an American film director and actor. As an actor, he was known for the nearly 100 films he was in during the silent era. As a director, he directed the logging sequences in the 1936 film '' C ...

, French-speaking cinematographer Lucien Androit, and French technicians. They spent nearly five months filming battle scenes and chases in Morocco, chiefly around the base at Bal Achard. Raft returned from Morocco in March 1948 with 85,000 feet of film. The filmmakers spent the next few months sifting through the footage, actually completing the shooting script (the Moroccan footage was filmed on the basis of a long treatment), and finding local locations that matched the Moroccan footage. Interiors were shot later in the year at the

Samuel Goldwyn Studio Samuel Goldwyn Studio was the name that Samuel Goldwyn used to refer to the lot located on the corner of Formosa Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California, as well as the offices and stages that his company, Samuel Goldwyn ...

in Los Angeles.

was borrowed from Enterprise Films to play the female lead.

Reception

The film made a reasonable profit.

References

Production notes

Extras were provided by the French Foreign Legion at Fort Tinihir, made up of some 900 German legionnaires of the remnants of Rommel's vaunted Afrikakorps in French uniform and the Moroccan Spahis Cavalry.

External links

* * *
Full copy of movie
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Outpost In Morocco 1949 films 1949 adventure films 1940s action adventure films 1940s American films 1940s English-language films American action adventure films American black-and-white films Films about the French Foreign Legion Films directed by Robert Florey Films scored by Michel Michelet Films set in deserts Films set in Morocco Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Morocco United Artists films