Legend of the Lost

Saharan quest to a lost city with John Wayne and Sophia Loren

A no-nonsense guide in Timbuktu (Wayne) agrees to take a man (Rossano Brazzi) to find ancient ruins his father claimed existed. A voluptuous woman of dubious reputation joins the expedition (Loren), which naturally affects both men.

"Legend of the Lost" (1957) is a desert adventure with amusing dramatics that no doubt influenced the Indiana Jones flicks of the 80s, but not as much as Charlton Heston’s “Secret of the Incas” (1954). Whilst some of the altercations during the journey seem manufactured, I’ve traveled with actual people who constantly create this kind of drama, so it’s not exactly unrealistic.

Other than Wayne and Sophia in the cast, the best feature is the actual Saharan locations, especially the ruins of Leptis Magna (which in real-life is located an hour’s drive east from Tripoli on the coast). The weak link is the dubious transformation of a certain character, which isn’t properly resolved or adequately explained.

In ways this reminded me of a Conan desert yarn, just minus the sword & sorcery.

The film runs 1 hour, 49 minutes, and was shot in Libya (Zliten, Leptis Magna, Libyan Desert, etc.) with studio stuff done in Rome, which is due north across the Mediterranean Sea.

GRADE: B-

I quite liked the idea of John Wayne and Sophia Loren searching for Egyptian treasure, but sadly this - though colourful - is really pretty disjointed. There is virtually no chemistry between either star, or with co-star Rossano Brazzi ("Paul") with whom Loren is ostensibly in love until their loot-hunting desert escapades begin and she starts to fall for the Duke. To give it it's due, Henry Hathaway did ship 'em all out to Libya so the settings are authentic enough but the story is predictable and fairly dull - and the score heavily over dramatises what dramatic moments there actually are. Both have considerable screen presence, but sadly this is a jigsaw of a film where the pieces just don't fit together. As an adventure film, it veers more towards being a romance, and as a romance it just falls a bit flat... Perhaps with a stronger supporting cast, it might have worked better but as it is - it's just another Wayne western just in a different desert.