March or Die

1977
PG
1h 47m

ÉVALUATION IMDb

6,3/10

4,1 k

MA NOTE

During the 1920s, French Foreign Legion Major William Foster's (Gene Hackman's) unit is protecting an archaeological dig, but the discovery of an Arab sacred burial site prompts the angry Arab tribes to attack Foster's small garrison.

Liretrailer2 min 33 s

1 vidéo

30 photos

Adventure Drama Romance War

Une épopée exceptionnelle au casting prestigieux : Gene Hackman (Get Shorty - Ennemi d'Etat), Catherine Deneuve (8 Femmes - Indochine), Terence Hill (On l'Appelle Trinita - Le Guépard), Max ... Tout lireUne épopée exceptionnelle au casting prestigieux : Gene Hackman (Get Shorty - Ennemi d'Etat), Catherine Deneuve (8 Femmes - Indochine), Terence Hill (On l'Appelle Trinita - Le Guépard), Max von Sydow (Minority Report - L'Exorciste) et Ian Holm (Aviator - Le Seigneur des Anneaux)Une épopée exceptionnelle au casting prestigieux : Gene Hackman (Get Shorty - Ennemi d'Etat), Catherine Deneuve (8 Femmes - Indochine), Terence Hill (On l'Appelle Trinita - Le Guépard), Max von Sydow (Minority Report - L'Exorciste) et Ian Holm (Aviator - Le Seigneur des Anneaux)

Voir l’information sur la production à IMDbPro

ÉVALUATION IMDb

6,3/10

4,1 k

MA NOTE

Voir l’information sur la production à IMDbPro

Vidéos1

Trailer 2:33

Trailer

Photos30

+ 24

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Histoire

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Le saviez-vous

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Anecdotes
When Gene Hackman started having back pain, the movie's insurance company refused to allow shooting to continue because a permanent injury to Hackman could have cost it a lot of money. The insurers suggested shooting the movie in the United States, but sand dunes in Nevada were not the same color as sand dunes in Agadir. Several big American transport planes were used to transport tons of sand from the Agadir dunes in to camouflage the sand of Nevada. (Source: Beyond Casablanca, Page 131).

Gaffes
The Legionnaires wear prewar dark blue uniforms and greatcoats. The French Foreign Legion adopted a khaki field uniform in 1907.

Citations
[last lines]
[facing a line of new recruits, citing Major Foster's earlier speech]
Marco Segrain: Some of you men will try to quit. Others will try to run away. No man in this command as ever succeeded. If the Legion doesn't get you, the desert will. If the desert doesn't, the Arabs will. And if the Arabs don't, then I will. I don't know which is worse.

Autres versions
The one major network showing of "March or Die" was considerably different from the original release, with a great deal of additional footage and a completely different ending. At the end of the original release Marco (Hill) gives a rousing speech to replacement Legionnaires, which is word-for-word the same speech Foster (Hackman) gave recruits near the beginning of the film. (To potential deserters: "If the Legion doesn't get you, the Arabs will. If the Arabs don't get you, the desert will. And if the desert doesn't get you... I will.) A caravan is leaving the fort behind Marco as he gives his speech. The original release ends on this note, implying that Marco has stepped into Foster's shoes as loyal Legion commander. In the network showing, after Marco delivers his speech, we see Marco deserting. He has slipped into Arab garb and joined the caravan leaving the fort. The Sergeant-Major is shown smiling at him, implying that he is complicit in Marco's desertion. Also in the network showing: A fierce desert battle between a legion column and Arab raiders. The entire battle is deleted from the original release. The column is led by the mean Lieutenant. In one scene, the mean Lieutenant is shown placing a pistol to his head and committing suicide. The scene does not appear in the original release. In addition, in the original release, the footage of the mean Lieutenant firing his pistol during the column's battle with raiders, is edited into the final battle scene at the archaological dig. The effect is quite jarring, as he has not been present for about a third of the film.

Connexions
Featured in 42nd Street Forever, Volume 4: Cooled by Refrigeration (2009)

Bandes originales
Plaisir d'Amour
(uncredited)
Music by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini
Lyrics by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian

Commentaires des utilisateurs42

Commentaire

Commentaire en vedette

6/10

Downbeat view of life in the Legion

Following his success with "Farewell My Lovely", ITC invited Dick Richards to pay homage to another quintessentially 30s genre, the Foreign Legion movie.

Unfortunately, he seems to have followed his instructions rather too literally. One imagines that ITC executives were horrified by the finished product, a gloomy, downbeat affair that went over-budget (according to Lew Grade) and which focuses on brutality and despair, rather than on heroism and adventure. Some choppy editing betrays signs of studio intervention to try to make the film more acceptable to modern audiences. Nevertheless, it's a long haul to the admittedly splendid battle which concludes the film.

"March or Die" is not without its merits, however. There's a superb cast and beautifully-lit, painting-like images from the great cinematographer, John Alcott. At its best the film catches a haunting mood of futility and sadness and it treats all sides - the Legion, their opponents, the archaeologists led by Max Von Sydow - with surprising even-handedness. Maurice Jarre's evocative love theme is also worthy of note.

The films' biggest flaw, however, is its uneven treatment of the Foreign Legion itself. It wavers uncertainly between 30s-style adulation and 70s-era condemnation. The climax asks us to salute the enduring courage and martial traditions of the Legion, yet this contrasts oddly with the sadism and brutality we witnessed earlier. Do we really wish to admire an institution which encourages its men to abandon colleagues and let them die in the desert?