The Last Remake of Beau Geste

The Last Remake of Beau Geste
Theatrical Poster by Drew Struzan
Directed by Marty Feldman
Produced by William S. Gilmore
George Shapiro
Howard West
Bernie Williams[1] (line prod.)
Written by Chris Allen
Sam Bobrick (story)
Marty Feldman (story)
Percival Christopher Wren (characters)
Based on Beau Geste
by P.C. Wren
Starring Marty Feldman
Michael York
Ann-Margret
Peter Ustinov
James Earl Jones
Trevor Howard
Henry Gibson
Roy Kinnear
Spike Milligan
Terry-Thomas
Music by John Morris
Cinematography Gerry Fisher
Edited by Jim Clark
Arthur Schmidt
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
 July 15, 1977
Running time
 85 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $4 million[2]

The Last Remake of Beau Geste is a 1977 American historical comedy film.[3] It starred and was also directed and co-written by Marty Feldman. It is a satire loosely based on the novel Beau Geste, a frequently-filmed story of brothers and their adventures in the French Foreign Legion. The humor is based heavily upon wordplay and absurdity. Feldman plays Digby Geste, the awkward and clumsy "identical twin" brother of Michael York's Beau, the dignified, aristocratic swashbuckler.

It was the feature film directorial debut of Feldman. He subsequently went on to direct In God We Tru$t (1980).

Plot

Spoofing the classic Beau Geste and a number of other desert motion pictures, the film's plotline revolves around the heroic Beau Geste and his brother Digby's misadventures in the French Foreign legion out in the Sahara, and the disappearance of the family sapphire, sought after by their money-hungry stepmother.

Cast

Production

Development

Feldman had appeared in two film spoofs made by actor-writer-directors, Young Frankenstein and The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Younger Brother. In 1976 Universal signed him to a five picture deal to act, write and direct in films, starting with The Last Remake of Beau Geste.[4]

"We see Marty as a triple threat artist," said a Universal spokesman. "Marty is like a throwback to the old silent comics who could do it all. It doesn't matter that he's British because physical gags travel.That's why he has a major future ahead of him and why we've made a major, major investment in Marty at Universal."[5]

"Everybody has a five picture deal," said Feldman. "Until the first picture bombs. Then they have a no picture deal."[6]

Feldman called it a "broad comic parody".[7] He wrote it during and after the making of Sherlock Holmes.[5]

"There's the whole idea of dying nobly, a bull---- idea. The film will poke fun at the way people think about war, dying for flags instead of people, heroism. There is a serious element in all comedy... the two overlap and merge. I see life as absurd and there's dignity in the absurd. Keaton had it. Chaplin had it. Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce. What we're saying about life is laugh."[8]

"I didn't want to work with clowns but actors who can clown," he said.[8]

Shooting

Filming began 30 August 1976.[9]

The film was shot on location in Madrid, and in Ireland at Ardmore Studios in Bray, and on location at Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin and Adare Manor near Limerick.

Filming was difficult, with the shoot plagued by rain in Spain.[10]

The film went over budget and over schedule.[11]

Feldman fell ill with chicken pox during the making of the film and went away to recover after doing a cut. While he was gone on a two week version Universal arranged for the film to be recut and made the composer do a new score Feldmna's friend Adam Spencer said the two cuts were markedly different - Feldman's was more surreal and Monty Python-like, whereas the Universal version told a more linear story. The Universal version ended with a scene where the Feldman one started, because his was told in flashback. Spencer says both versions were tested, and Feldman's version tested better, but the Universal one was released.[11]

Reception

The film received mixed-to-negative reviews, with a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[12] That being said, Vincent Canby of The New York Times did give a positive review of the film, describing it as having "a whole range of jokes that are funny primarily because they are in absolutely terrible taste."[13]

The film was described as a "surprise hit" and he was able to direct a second film.[14]

Release

Marty Feldman was disappointed with the print distributed in theaters because the studio edited its own version. Attempts have been made to have the director's cut restored, but so far these have proved fruitless. According to Michael York, "Marty's version was much funnier." The film was released in America on DVD on January 11, 2010 as part of the Universal Vault Series of DVD-on-Demand titles, sold on Amazon.com, in the UK, the film was released through Second Sight Films on January 24, 2011.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Barnes, Mike (2015-01-12). "Bernard Williams, Producer on 'A Clockwork Orange' and 'Ragtime,' Dies at 72". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
  2. ↑ Movies: Marty Feldman (Or How He Fell Into the Director's Chair) BY BART MILLS Los Angeles Times 22 May 1977: x29.
  3. ↑ "Movie Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  4. ↑ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Rudolph's Version of Isolation Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 6 Feb 1976: e8.
  5. 1 2 Foreign lesion MIlls, Bart. The Guardian 15 Sep 1976: 6.
  6. ↑ 'Marty Feldman': Say That With a Straight Face Levine, Joan. Los Angeles Times 23 May 1976: p39.
  7. ↑ Behind Marty Feldman's zany brand of comedy: 'I learn as I go' explains the film-TV star Writing skills Wilder's film Total involvement Acting start By David Sterritt. The Christian Science Monitor 26 May 1976: 26.
  8. 1 2 MOVIE CALL SHEET: Universal Fetes 'Digby' Feldman Lee, Grant. Los Angeles Times 5 July 1976: e10.
  9. ↑ FILM CLIPS: Rich Man's Rich Heroine Kilday, Gregg. Los Angeles Times 24 July 1976: b7.
  10. ↑ Spain's rain: no jest Norman, Barry. The Guardian 17 Nov 1976: 8.
  11. 1 2 "The Last Remake of Beau Geste". Trailers From Hell.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-01-07. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  13. ↑ "Movie Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  14. ↑ "In God We Trust". Trailers from Hell.
  15. ↑ "The Last Remake of Beau Geste ::DVD Movies Coming Soon:: Second Sight Films". Secondsightfilms.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
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