Beau Geste
Friday, June 19 at 9:00 pm
This black and white film is based on the 1924 novel by English soldier/author Percival Christopher Wren. It was produced and directed  by Robert Wellman and starred Gary Cooper, Brian Donlevy, Ray Milland, Broderick Crawford, and Susan Heyward in her film debut. It opens with a puzzling encounter outside a French fort in the Saharan desert. A relief column finds the fort seemingly deserted and sends the bugler in to reconnoiter.  The bugler fails to return.  The major in charge of the column then rides to see for himself what is amiss in the fort, finds numerous clues, but no answers as to why the fort is deserted.  The film then flashes back to England 15 years earlier to trace the beginnings of the mystery and methodically unfold the tale.  Michael “Beau” Geste and his brothers Digby and John are the wards of Lady Patricia Brandon. When the boys reach adulthood, a precious family heirloom, the saphire known as the Blue Water, is stolen. Beau also is missing. Thus begins the adventure that leads to the events at the fort in the Sahara.  The mystery surrounding the stolen Blue Water is finally revealed in the last, satisfying scene.