La Bandera (1935)

64% of users liked it
(68 ratings)

Less ambitious than his previous Golgotha, Julien Duvivier's La Bandera is nonetheless more entertaining. A Foreign Legion yarn, La Bandera downplays spectacular battle scenes in favor of a romantic triangle. Accused of murder, Pierre (Jean Gabin) joins the Legion, with detective Lucas (Robert Le… More Less ambitious than his previous Golgotha, Julien Duvivier's La Bandera is nonetheless more entertaining. A Foreign Legion yarn, La Bandera downplays spectacular battle scenes in favor of a romantic triangle. Accused of murder, Pierre (Jean Gabin) joins the Legion, with detective Lucas (Robert Le Vigan) hot on his trail. Both Pierre and Lucas fall in love with beautiful Bedouin girl Aischa (Annabella), which only intensifies their hatred of one another. The two antagonists are eventually forced to bury the hatchet when fighting shoulder to shoulder against uprising natives. The ending is rather startling, inasmuch as the audience was expected the actor with the best screen billing to get the girl. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed By: Julien Duvivier
Written By: Pierre Dumarchais, Julien Duvivier
Genres: Drama, Romance, Art House & International

In Theaters: May 2, 1939 Wide
On DVD: Mar 25, 2003
Studio: Orbis Film

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

it's no pépé le moko but it's a whole lot of fun. the film opens as gabin flees the scene of a murder which is never fully explained. soon he's in barcelona, cavorting with topless dancers and drag queens, pretty risque even for a french film of the period. however… More
it's no pépé le moko but it's a whole lot of fun. the film opens as gabin flees the scene of a murder which is never fully explained. soon he's in barcelona, cavorting with topless dancers and drag queens, pretty risque even for a french film of the period. however he soon tires of looking over his shoulder and joins the spanish foreign legion, a fighting force where names are assumed and no questions asked. his troop heads for morocco, where he falls in love with a bedouin dancer, played by annabella with henna tattoos, but all the while someone is on his trail...