Available on DCP
January 17 Fort Lee, NJ BARRYMORE FILM CENTER
USA, 1926
Director: Herbert Brenon
Producer: Jesse L. Lasky, Adolph Zukor
Cast: Ronald Colman, Neil Hamilton, Ralph Forbes, Alice Joyce, Mary Brian, Noah Beery, Norman Trevor, William Powell, Victor McLaglen, Donald Stuart, Mickey McBan, Maurice Murphy, Philippe De Lacy, Betsy Ann Hisle
Adaptation: Herbert Brenon, John Russell
Screenwriter: Paul Schofield
Based on the novel by Percival Christopher Wren
Cinematography: J. Roy Hunt
Editor: Julian Johnson
Music: Hugo Riesenfeld
Musical Score: The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Compiled by: Rodney Sauer, incorporating music from Hugo Riesenfeld and James Bradford's 1926 score
Genre: Drama, War
Black & White
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Language: Silent with English intertitles
Running Time: 133 minutes, plus intermission
© MCMXXVI by Famous Players Lasky Corporation
New Edition © 2025 The Film Preserve, Ltd. and The Maltese Film Works
Synopsis:
Beau Geste thrums with action and drama as a trio of British brothers — future Oscar-winner Ronald Colman, Neil Hamilton forty years before he became Commissioner Gordon on TV's Batman, and the prolific Ralph Forbes — find themselves in the French Foreign Legion and at the mercy of a sadistic commanding officer (Noah Beery). William Powell shines in the supporting cast, eight years before he portrayed Nick Charles in the The Thin Man movie series. One of Paramount Pictures' most popular films of the 1920s, Brenon's epic spectacle inspired multiple sequels, remakes, and, eventually, parodies and, with this monumental restoration, can now reach modern audiences.
Awards:
Medal of Honor (Photoplay Awards, 1927)
Best Pictures of the Month - November (Photoplay Awards, 1927)
Best Performances of the Month - November, Noah Beery, Ronald Colman, and William Powell (Photoplay Awards, 1927)
Restoration:
Beau Geste was a 1926 Paramount production, that was awarded Best Picture of 1926 by Photoplay Magazine—the year before the Academy Awards arrived. Directed by Herbert Brenon, the film starred Ronald Colman, Alice Joyce, Neil Hamilton, Noah Beery, William Powell, Ralph Forbes and Norman Trevor, and was based upon the best-selling novel by P.C. Wren. The film was originally released in roadshow format with an intermission and went through two cuts. A final print was struck from the original negative in 1939 for research toward the remake. At that time the negative had hundreds of splices and missing and damaged footage. Unfortunately, that print was struck on a printer for sound films, and the left side of the image was lost. Because of the importance of the film, there was a perception that it was protected. Multiple archives held different elements, but the reality was that not a single complete element of high quality had survived.
Presented by: Film Preserve Ltd., The Maltese Film Works, and San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
Reconstructed and restored by: Robert A. Harris and James T. Mockoski
Restoration supervised by: Library of Congress
In collaboration with: Paramount Pictures, Library of Congress, UCLA Film and Television Archive, Museum of Modern Art, and George Eastman Museum
Funding provided by: Olivia and John Farr; The Lucille and Paul Maslin Foundation
Editorial & Conform: Robby Schafer
Composite Artist: Josh Jones
Roundabout Entertainment: Gregg Garvin, Vincent Pirozzi
A Rialto Pictures Release
