Legend of the Lost

Infobox Film
name = Legend of the Lost


caption = 1957 movie poster
director = Henry Hathaway
producer = Henry Hathaway
writer = Ben Hecht
Robert Presnell
starring = John Wayne
Sophia Loren
Rossano Brazzi
music = A.F. Lavagnino
cinematography = Jack Cardiff
editing =
distributor = United Artists
released = December 17 1957
runtime = 109 minutes
country = flagicon|USA USA / flagicon|Italy Italy
awards =
language = English
budget = $1,750,000 (estimated)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:28877
imdb_id = 0050629

"Legend of the Lost" is a 1957 Italy/U.S. adventure film starring John Wayne, Sophia Loren, and Rossano Brazzi.

Plot

In Timbuktu, experienced guide Joe January (John Wayne) reluctantly joins a Saharan treasure hunting expedition led by Paul Bonnard (Rossano Brazzi), a man obsessed with confirming his dead father's claim to have found a lost city. Dita (Sophia Loren), a woman of dubious reputation, becomes infatuated with Paul and his willingness to overlook her past. She invites herself along, despite Joe's protests. During the tough dry ordeal, Joe and Dita become attracted to each other, raising tensions.

Just as they run out of water, they stumble upon the ancient city and a well. There, they find three human skeletons, a woman and two men. It becomes evident that Paul's father found his woman in the arms of his guide, killed them and then himself. There is also no treasure to be found. Paul's faith in his father is shattered and he becomes drunk.

Then they find the treasure, just where Paul's father had described. They load it and prepare to leave in the morning. However, Paul sneaks away in the night, taking all the animals, supplies and treasure with him and leaving the other two to die.

Joe and Dita chase after him on foot and eventually catch up. The two men fight. Dita is forced to shoot and kill Paul. When they spot a caravan, Joe and Dita are saved.

Cast and crew

"Legend of the Lost" was directed by Henry Hathaway. Wayne and Hathaway worked together nine times, beginning with "The Shepherd of the Hills" (1941) and ending with Wayne's Oscar-winning role in "True Grit" (1969). Co-author Ben Hecht, nearing the end of his career at this time, was one of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters. None of this talent managed to keep "Legend of the Lost" from being harshly reviewed by critics.

Wayne liked the location work in Rome and Libya. The plot is vaguely similar to another of Wayne’s movies crossing the Mojave desert.

This film was Wayne's only collaboration on film with international cinema stars Sophia Loren, and Rossano Brazzi.

External links

*imdb title|id=0050629|title=Legend of the Lost