Toronto Silent Film Festival: BEAU GESTE (1926) – Canadian Premiere of New Restoration!
Runtime: 129 mins | Release Year: 1926 | Rating: NR | Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Drama
Production Country: USA | Original Language: No Language
Showtimes
Canadian Premiere-NEW RESTORATION
Live Accompaniment by Bill O’Meara
Set against the vast sands of the Algerian desert, Director Herbert Brenon’s takes author P.C. Wren’s adventure novel to a different level to create created an enduring template for the almost mythical tales of the French Foreign Legion, brotherhood and desert warfare. Ronald Colman stars as “Beau” Geste, the eldest of three brothers who join the Legion after a family scandal involving the theft of a valuable jewel.
Among the film’s most visually striking sequences—the desert fort populated by dead soldiers propped up along the parapets—it remains one of silent cinema’s most haunting images. Cinematographer J. Roy Hunt captures the expansive Algerian landscape with the skill of a painter, while Brenon balances intimate character drama with spectacular military action.
Noah Beery’s sadistic Sergeant Lejaune provides a memorably vicious antagonist whose cruelty tests the bonds of fraternal loyalty and honour at the heart of this classic adventure tale.
This stunning new restoration returns the visual glory to this 1926 award winning film.
Restored by Artcraft Pictures, supervisesd by the Library of Congress.
Screening materials provided by Rialto Pictures.
Part of the Toronto Silent Film Festival series!
Cast/Crew Info
Director: Herbert Brenon | Cast: Ronald Colman, Neil Hamilton, Ralph Forbes, Alice Joyce, Mary Brian