"Rogues' Regiment" is very unusual film - more ways than one. Billed an action, adventure and mystery, this is a preview look at Vietnam and the Vietnamese War. It takes place during the French Indo-China colonial period which lasted until 1954. The French pulled out of the country on May 7, 1954, after a four-month siege by communist-led rebels of the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu.
So, there's more than a little history surrounding this film. It portrays the French Foreign Legion in the Vietnam of the late 1940s. And, it shows some ambushes of French units. I know of only one other film that has scenes about the French Army and defeats in Vietnam. That is the 2002 film that starred Mel Gibson, "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young." So, considering that this movie came out in 1948, the film is somewhat prescient of the failure and withdrawal of the French in 1954, and then of the Vietnam War and American involvement a decade after that.
But for its prophetic historical notes, the plot of this film is about an American undercover sergeant joining the French forces in Indo-China in the hopes of discovering the last notorious Nazi official from World War II, to bring him to justice. In this film, the character is Martin Brunner who is disguised as another legionnaire, Carl Reicher. Dick Powell plays the American, Whit Corbett.
Another historical aside is that from well before WW II Germans had been joining the French Foreign Legion, and many of the NCOs at the time of the war were German. The Nazis had tried to infiltrate the legion with recruits, and the French discovered the plot. Even after France's defeat, the Legion operated as the Free French and worked to purge itself of any Nazis. So, now, in the post-war period, former German soldiers who weren't Nazis were joining the French legion in Indo-China. But that made it a logical place for Nazis as well who fled Germany to hide out for several years.
Another element of this film is that an arms smuggling operation existed that supplied the Vietnamese with weapons of war. The bad guy playing the part of Mark Van Ratten here is Vincent Price. Märta Torén plays Lili Maubert, who is an undercover contact for Corbett But she's also an acquaintance of Van Ratten. This film has some interesting twists. Considering that it was all shot in California and on Universal studio lots, the film does well in looking like Vietnam.
The cast all give good performances. Torén was a Swedish actress who was being billed as the next Ingrid Berman. She is 21 at the time of this movie and she would make some good films. But just nine years later she would die of a brain hemorrhage in her native Stockholm, Sweden. Here are some favorite lines form this film.
Lily Maubert, "What does Col. Mauclaire think?" Whit Corbett, "Same as you do - that I'm fishing for whales with a bat pin. But he'll help with the bait."
Lily Maubert, "I wish I could help you too." Whit Corbett, "You're doing that, just letting me look at you."
Whit Corbett, "You know, this is my last job for the Army. In another three months, my time will be up and I'll be going home - to a place called Nebraska. I've got a farm there - a hay farm. It's very quiet and might even be a little dull, after what we've been doing. But it's also a wonderful life in another way. And, for excitement, we can always drive the jeep up to Omaha.
Lily Maubert, "Are you making love to me?" Whit Corbett, "I'm trying to. Why, does it amuse you?" Lily, "No, no, it doesn't. I think I like it very much - if you mean it."
Lily Maubert, "What is hay?" Whit Corbett, "Hay? That's the stuff you make when the sun shines."
