The Foreign Legion Explained

The Foreign Legion
Director:	Edward Sloman
Starring:	Norman Kerry Lewis Stone Mary Nolan
Editing:	Ted J. Kent
Cinematography:	Jackson Rose
Studio:	Universal Pictures
Distributor:	Universal Pictures
Runtime:	80 minutes
Country:	United States
Language:	Silent (English intertitles)

The Foreign Legion is a 1928 American silent adventure film directed by Edward Sloman and starring Norman Kerry, Lewis Stone, and Mary Nolan. The film is based on the 1913 novel The Red Mirage by I.A.R. Wylie.^[1] It was one of several Foreign Legion-themed films produced in the wake of the successful 1926 film Beau Geste. The production cost around $250,000, but was the subject of diplomatic protests from French authorities due to its depiction of brutality.^[2]

Cast

• Norman Kerry as Richard Farquhar
• Lewis Stone as Col. Destin
• Crauford Kent as Capt. Arnaud
• Mary Nolan as Sylvia Omney (credited as Imogene Robertson)
• June Marlowe as Gabrielle
• Walter Perry as Cpl. Gotz
• Billy Seay as Richard as a Boy (uncredited)

Preservation

With no prints of The Foreign Legion located in any film archives,^[3] it is a lost film.

Bibliography

• Vasey, Ruth. "Beyond Sex and Violence," in Schatz, Thomas (ed.), Hollywood: Social Dimensions: Technology, Regulation and the Audience, Vol. III (2004). Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group.

Notes and References

1. http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/F/ForeignLegion1928.html Progressive Silent Film List: The Foreign Legion
2. Vasey p. 203
3. https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.5417/ Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: The Foreign Legion