A 1977 film by Sir Lew Grade, set during the 1920's, where the French Foreign Legion, under Major William Foster's command, must protect an archaeological dig. Upon the discovery of a sacred burial site, the many nomadic tribes unite under El Krim to attack Foster's small garrison, and drive or expunge the French from Morocco. A climactic battle ensues between a small but organized garrison versus a roaring throng of fervent jihadis.
This period film contains the following tropes:
- Agony of the Feet: Top Hat has bleeding feet after marching in the desert in ill-fitting boots. When he complains, his drill instructor tells him to march in the desert without footwear.
- Desecrating the Dead : The young and newly recruited Legionnaire Fred Hastings has been captured by the hostile Rif tribe and crucified on a Saint Andrew's cross. When the Legionnaires arrive in formation to retrieve the body, one of El Krim's men begins abusing the corpse to further humiliate the Legionnaires.
- Dying Truce: When the stoic Major Foster falls to a cavalry bullet, his Arab adversaries cease fire. Their chieftain, El Krim, approaches the French lines, is allowed passage, and honors his fallen foe. El Krim then gives the remaining French forces the opportunity to withdraw from their hopeless position.
- Husky Russkie: Ivan is a Russian-born Legionnaire who's noticeably bigger than his fellow Legionnaires. He's played by heavyweight boxer Jack O'Halloran.
- Ironic Echo: After Hastings is tortured to death by one of El Krim's men, El Krim says "One of my men became restless." After Marco shoots the man who killed Hastings, Major Foster states "One of my men became restless."
- Legion of Lost Souls: The French Foreign Legion is pitted against Abd El Krim's rebel army in the Moroccan desert.
- Mercy Kill: El Krim has captured some assistants to Professor Marneau. His victims are hung on Saint Andrew's crosses, their eyes plucked out and their tongues cut off, but still alive. Major Foster shoots the miserable victims dead, which almost gets him shot in return.
- Patriot in Exile: After a long march, the French Foreign Legionnaires take a breather, during which Marco asks why Ivan the Russian joined the Legion. Ivan answers that he used to be part of the Palace Guard for Tsar Nicholas II, but when he returned from a pass to visit his family, the February Revolution had removed the Romanovs to Yekaterinburg, where they were shot. "All of them. All of them," Ivan laments. Though he loves his mother Russia, Ivan dares not return, as the Bolsheviks would surely execute him as well.
- Soldier vs. Warrior: The French Foreign Legion is composed of soldiers stationed in French Morocco. Their current assignment is to safeguard an archeologist while he unearths an ancient burial site. The protection is necessary, as many nomadic tribes view the digging as a violation of their sovereign territory. When the archeologist unearths the "Flower of the Desert," this unites the disparate tribes under the leadership of El Krim, who leads a Zerg Rush of warriors against the French.
