March or Die (film)
| March or Die | |
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Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
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| Directed by | Dick Richards |
| Produced by |
Jerry Bruckheimer Dick Richards executive Lew Grade |
| Written by | David Zelag Goodman |
| Based on | A story by David Goodman Dick Richards |
| Starring |
Gene Hackman Catherine Deneuve Terence Hill Max von Sydow Jack O'Halloran |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
| Cinematography | John Alcott |
| Edited by |
Stanford C. Allen O. Nicholas Brown John C. Howard |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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104 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8 million |
| Box office | $3,243,088 (USA) 373,848 admissions (France) |
March or Die is a 1977 British war drama film directed by Dick Richards and starring Gene Hackman, Terence Hill, Catherine Deneuve, Max von Sydow and Ian Holm.
The film celebrates the 1920s French Foreign Legion. Foreign Legion Major Foster (Hackman), a war-weary American haunted by his memories of the recently ended Great War, is assigned to protect a group of archaeologists at a dig site in Erfoud in Morocco from Bedouin revolutionaries led by El-Krim (based on Moroccan revolutionary Abd el-Krim).
The song Plaisir d'amour, a tune about lost love and regret is heard repeatedly through the film, serving as film's theme song.
Soon after the Great War, Major Foster (Hackman), the commander of a detachment of the French Foreign Legion, suffers the haunting memories of leading an army of 8,000, now reduced to 200. He has become an alcoholic as a result, and his only friend is his faithful Sergeant, Triand (Rufus Narcy).
Foster arrives in Paris to assume a new command: to return to the Rif (Morocco) to re-establish French authority, as Bedouin and Berber tribes have begun to revolt against French rule. Foster is also ordered to escort archaeologists from the Louvre, who are uncovering an ancient city near Erfoud buried by a sand storm 3,000 years ago. The site is the final resting place of a Berber saint, "The Angel of the Desert". Foster was chosen for the assignment, as he is the only French officer alive who served in Morocco before the war. He had helped to develop diplomatic ties with the tribes, especially with El Krim, the de facto leader of the scattered Rif tribes. Foster had vowed to El Krim that there would be no further archeological excavations.
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Wikipedia