Beau Geste

We watched a very nice film yesterday called Beau Geste which was a 1939 adaptation of a novel by the same name. Beau Geste is a story about brotherly love. Three brothers, Beau, John and Digby are orphans who are being brought up by their wealthy aunt Patricia together with two other children, one of them a girl called Isobel who John later falls in love with.

Lady Patricia and her husband are separated from each other and he only comes home to sell more of his family treasure so that in the end practically nothing is left but a precious stone called "Blue Water." When Lady Patricia gets a telegram informing her that her husband is coming home again, she realises what it means and her young relatives ask her to show them the jewel before it is sold. Aunt Patricia takes the box out of the safe, opens it, the lights go out and when they are on again, the jewel is gone.

It's evident that only those present in the room (three brothers Geste, Isobel and another nephew Augustus) could have taken it. Lady Patricia gives the thief one night to repent of what he has done and to return the jewel before she goes to the police. One of the brothers searches Augustus whom they all dislike, but finds nothing so it becomes obvious that the thief is one of them.

In the early morning Beau disappears leaving a letter with confession behind, and Digby, his twin, does the same. John suspects that they decided to join the Foreign Legion and decides to follow them while Isobel promises to wait for him at home.

At first, everything goes OK, the three brothers find each other again in the North African desert, undergo the military training and all become soldiers in the service of France, but then they get separated. Beau and John are chosen to serve in a remote fort under the command of a sadistic sergeant Markoff while Digby stays behind. When the lieutenant in charge of the fort dies from fever, Markoff officially becomes the first in command and as the men hate him for his cruelty, things quickly deteriorate to the point of mutiny...

It was a very interesting movie, with Gary Cooper playing the part of Beau.

It can be watched on YouTube, over here:
Beau Geste

Keep in mind that it's a 1939 production, so no special effects over there, but it's a nice adaptation with elements of drama in it and it was very touching.