Opera House

Grey River Argus, 5 August 1940, Page 10

Opera House

NOW SHOWING: “BEAU GESTE.”

Gary Cooper, in a role greater than any of his great roles, Ray Milland, in the most vigorous characterisation he has ever brought to the screen, and' Robert Preston, adding to the laurels heaped on him after his peiformance in “Union Pacific.” form a magnificent starring trio for “Beau Geste,” Paramount’s rousing new picturisation of the story of three gallant brothers whose loyalty leads them to high adventure in the French Foreign Legion. Cooper has portrayed an adventurer many times in previous pictures, but his role in “Beau Geste” now showing at Opera House for an extended season, gives him greater scope than any of his previous parts. Cooper, of course, is cast in the title role, as “Beau,” eldest of the three “Geste” brothers. Milland, who turned in one of the top performances of last year in “Me.i With Wings,” gets a bigger and better chance to prove his calibre as “John,” while Preston, as the youngest of the Gestes, “Digby,” readily proves that he is rightfully a member of the “Golden Circle, ’ a select group of young Paramount players being groomed for stardom. Beau leads his brothers to adventure in the French Foreign Legion when a valuable sapphire, the “Blue Water,” is stolen from their guardian. Each ot the brothers joins him in turn in order that no one of them shall be suspected of having stolen the jewel They are reunited at a legion training post. At the post, a sneak thiet, “Rasinoff” (J. Carrol Naish) hears each of the brothers jokingly boast that he has the jewel. A brutal, halt mad seargeant “Markoff” (Brian Donlevy), wrings the information out of Rasinoff. Markoff plots to get the jewel for himself, and his chance to separate the brothers comes when he is ordered to select troops for duty at Fort Zinderneuf. He chooses Beau and John, Digby, is sent to Fort Tokotu. Fort Zinderneuf becomes a living hell when Markoff attains command. The men, with the exception ci Beau, John, Rasinoff, and a few others, organise a mutiny. Markoff tries to force Beau and John to shoot the leaders of the mutiny, and when they refuse, he threatens to shoot them down. However, they are saved by an attack on the fort by a wild desert tribe, the Touaregs. Markoil, as many legionaries are killed in successive attacks, props dead men m the fort’s embrasures so that tn_ Touaregs will think the fort has a full force of men. Finally Beau .s mortally wounded. Markoff leaps on him to search for the jewel, but John, helped by the dying Beau, rams a bayonet through Markoff’s chest. Just before he dies, Beau hands John two letters; one for Markoff’s hand, and one to bear to their guardian. “Beau Geste” makes use of a flashback at its inception to show how Digby, numbered among the relief column coming from Fort Tokotu, volunteers to scale the walls of the fort to determine why the flag is flying, men are at the embrasures, yet there is no sign of life. Digbv, carrying out Beau’s childhood wisfi for a Viking funeral, sets fire to the fort and helps John in his efforts to escape to England through Egypt. Others in the cast include Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward, J. Carrol Naish, Donald O’Connor and James Stephenson.