Gary Cooper makes a perfect Beau, while Ray Milland and Robert Preston are well cast as his brothers John and Digby in this definitive version of PC Wren's classic Boy's Own saga about the Foreign Legion. Discerning viewers (and silent movie fans) will spot that this is virtually a shot-for-shot remake of the Ronald Colman 1926 film, but a major plus here (apart from sound) is the casting of Brian Donlevy as the evil Sergeant Markoff, who was rewarded with an Oscar nomination for his powerful performance. The heroic and romantic attitudes on display may now seem dated, but that's the fault of the times, not the story. Watch out for a very young Donald O'Connor playing Beau as a boy.

Brothers Beau, John and Digby Geste join the Foreign Legion, where they fall under the rule of tyrannical Sergeant Markoff. Beau and John are assigned to Fort Zinderneuf, where Markoff tries to break their spirit, aware of a dark family secret concerning a fabulous jewel one of them carries. As tensions rise, Arabs attack the fort and rivalries must be thrown aside in a desperate battle for life.