A largely forgetable film with a few minutes of greatness at the end

This lesser known John Wayne film is the poster child for what happens when a film is miscast. There are many reasons why this film is largely invisible among many better Wayne films, but the primary reason in my view is that there is absolutely no connection between the the three main characters. The actors couldn't relate to each other, and the result is a dry, stilted performance by all. John Wayne is horribly miscast in this role, he is too `American' and too closely identified with the American Western. He is not at all convincing as the `African adventurer'. The biggest problem with this film is Rossano Brazzi, though. He makes absolutely no connection with either Loren or Wayne. Other problems with this film include poor dialogue and a lack of clarity as to where this film was going (is it an adventure film? a character study of two men in a love triangle? a Christian-themed film?).

The basic premise of this film is a search in the desert for lost treasure in the Sahara. John Wayne's character leads Brazzi out into the desert in search of a lost city and lost treasure supposedly discovered by Brazzi's father several years earlier. Loren plays a prostitute in Timbuctu who joins the pair. Coming several years after the vastly better `King Solomon's Mines', this film shares several similar plot threads. In spite of the hyperbole, this really isn't much of an adventure film. It is more of a vehicle to get the Italian hottie out in the desert alone with two very different men and explore their reactions and underlying motivations.

The first 3/4 of this film are largely forgettable, but I've rated it at 3 stars because the film makes a dramatic recovery in the last 20 minutes. Brazzi is mostly gone, and it is in the last few sequences when we see some real connection between Wayne and Loren. Brazzi treated Loren like a prostitute, and Wayne treats her like a woman who deserves respect, no matter what she has done. Both Loren and Wayne discover themselves and each other in the final few sequences. Wayne has a great line about faith in God and faith in men. The bottom line is that this is a seriously flawed film on several levels, although the final twenty minutes make it worth the price of admission.

Legend of the Lost

Although I am a dedicated fan of John Wayne and dearly love his movies, I found this movie, which I have never seen before, to be slow and for lack of a better word boring. I will view it again and add it to my collection because John Wayne is in it.

Great classic flick!

This film is very much in the genre of Strange Cargo, which I hope will be released on DVD as well. Both movies involve the self discovery of the main characters and the titanic struggle of good and evil.