ReWatch: Legend of the Lost

• Produced and Directed by Henry Hathaway
• December 17, 1957

An American living in Libya is hired by a man to take him into the desert in search of treasure and his missing father but complications arise on their journey.

Before there was Indiana Jones there was Joe January. In John Wayne tradition his character of Joe January is a hard living, hard drinking tougher than tough yet fair man. He’s an America loving ex-pat living in Timbuktu working as a tour guide…or something. I know his character knows the desert better than anybody not from there but what Joe actually does in order to avoid starvation and general destitution is vague.

Into his life comes a Paul Bonnard (Rossano Brazzi), a man seeking to locate his dead father but also looking to prove his father did indeed locate a lost city. Joe not being to fool takes the fistfuls of money Bonnard is offering even if he thinks the whole thing is a bunch of hooey. Along for the trip whether they want her to be or not is local prostitute Dita (the stunning Sophia Loren) who finds both men attracted to her and she to them.

On the surface, Legend of the Lost is an adventure film set in the desolate Sahara about a man looking for his father as well as a fabled lost city. But it does gets into deeper things. Though not overt Joe makes it clear he’s a man who believes in God. He has some level of spiritual faith and puts faith mainly in God. While Bonnard also believes in God, he tends to put his faith in himself and other men. The lesson being here is that humans can let you down.

A lantern is hung on that idea by Joe at a few points. Bonnard clearly has a great deal of faith in his father and looks up to him as many sons do to their fathers. He sees him as a great man who is loving and caring and very paternal.

Joe, on the other hand, understands that people are flawed and proceeds with caution no matter how friendly or kind a person appears. That doesn’t mean he sees people as terrible, but he is not given to blind faith but rather intentions be supported by evidence.

I find myself finding more in this movie and thus enjoying it a little bit more the second time I watched it. On the surface it’s just a fun adventure film with John Wayne doing what he does best. Look a little deeper and our two main characters come from distinctly different perspectives. That substance makes this rewatchable.

Tensions arise during the trip across the barren landscape. Needless to say when they arrive at their destination, they find the body of the Bonnard’s father as well as his guide and the woman accompanying them that they apparently fought over. From there it becomes clear that what’s happening with Joe and the gang is parallel to what happened with Bonnard’s father and his group.

Interestingly as Joe is looking at and analyzing the situation, you can tell he realizes what happened then is what’s happening with him now. In that way he has the benefit of seeing it having happened before and that allows him to tread more softly than probably his predecessor did.

Joe January is the manliest man in the movie though Bonnard is strong competition for the affections of Dita. As usual with Wayne films neither he nor Dita want to get together, but find that they are indeed attracted to one another even after an initial denial. Dita realizes it first with Joe reluctant to admit it. Not unusual for a Wayne film.

John Wayne wasn’t a bad actor but the problem was many directors tried to get their films to success based on his stardom and screen persona rather than getting him to work for it. Wayne just couldn’t easily do it himself. He needed a little bit of encouragement or push from the director. Henry Hathaway was one of the few directors that could get a better than usual performance out of John Wayne. He was able to get a little something extra special out of the man in whatever film he had him in.

Dita may be a prostitute but it’s not a life she really wants. She’s a lost soul looking for someone to save her and initially sees that in Bonnard before realizing that Joe can give her the love she needs and that love is what she is seeking to save her.

Bonnard wants to believe he is a good man and in any other situation he would certainly be a good man. It’s easy to be a saint in paradise, but when things get tough then his morals and strength of character quickly fall away as they are built on nothing solid.

The stunning desert visuals coupled with location shooting under the guiding hand of Henry Hathaway gives this an epic adventure feel with a touch of melodrama. There are possibly dangerous nomads and tarantulas in Tarantula Canyon. Joe letting everybody know where they were resting might have saved Dita some trouble.

Very little appears to filmed on a set. Not that I would knock it down any if they had built sets for all this, but filming in an ancient Roman city gives things a bit more authenticity than they otherwise would have.

I find myself enjoying Legend of the Lost more the second time around. I see a little bit more in it than I noticed the first time. For John Wayne fans and fans of good adventure films this is something that they will certainly enjoy. I say check it out!