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The Last Remake of Beau Geste is a 1977 American historical comedy film. 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.
| 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 (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 | $4 million |
It was the feature film directorial debut of Feldman. He subsequently went on to direct In God We Tru$t (1980).
Screenplay
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.
- Marty Feldman
- Michael York
- Ann-Margret
- Peter Ustinov as the brutal Sergeant Markov,
- Sinéad Cusack as sister Isabel Geste
- Trevor Howard as Sir Hector
- Spike Milligan as Crumble the Butler)
- Burt Kwouk as Father Shapiro)
- James Earl Jones as Arab Chief
- Avery Schreiber as Arab Chieftain / Used Camel Salesman)
- Terry-Thomas as Warden)
- Henry Gibson as General Pecheur)
- Roy Kinnear as Corporal Boldini
- Ed McMahon as Arab Horseman
- Michael McConkey as young Digby
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.
"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."
"Everybody has a five picture deal," said Feldman. "Until the first picture bombs. Then they have a no picture deal."
Feldman called it a "broad comic parody". He wrote it during and after the making of Sherlock Holmes.
"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."
"I didn't want to work with clowns but actors who can clown," he said.
Shooting
Filming began 30 August 1976.
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.
The film went over budget and over schedule.
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.
The film received mixed-to-negative reviews, with a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 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."
The film was described as a "surprise hit" and he was able to direct a second film.
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.
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