No sign from the men on the walls.
Take the scouts.
The men at the walls, they're dead, sir.
Dead? All of them?
Not one man alive.
Then who fired those shots?
Column!
Halt!
Squads number 1 and 2, secure the fort.
Squads 3 and 4, extinguish fire.
Get those buckets full of water.
Get those fires out on that wall.
On the double! Get moving! Move!
Major!
There's a man alive over here.
Sergeant!
Can he talk?
Well, he's still weak from the loss of that arm,
but he's been stronger every day.
I'm sorry to impose this on you,
but it is time I completed my report.
I only have to know your version of what happened.
What happened. What happened. What happened.
My name is Dagineau.
Sergeant Major Dagineau.
You have been given over to my tender care.
It's my job
to make you fit to die for France.
Until then, you are nothing.
A line of zeros
with no past and damn little future.
We ask no questions.
We don't have to. We know what you are.
The scum of the earth,
liars, thieves, drunkards,
pimps, perverts and killers
flushed out of all the sewers of Europe.
Here's a zero with a look of a butcher.
- I was a German officer. - Same thing.
A lover.
- And a Frenchman? - I am Belgian.
And a liar.
Sergeant major, is this the time to register a complaint?
By all means.
You know, sergeant,
I am assigned to infantry by mistake.
I am Cossack, a horse soldier.
One more word and you'll be a gelding.
Boldini.
- So you've reenlisted. - Yes, my sergeant major.
Things get too hot outside the desert?
Suppose you tell us what kind of a zero you are.
I'm a professional soldier.
You are a lying, thieving, murdering, alcoholic pig.
And now and then we get a question mark.
A glory hunter,
a fanatic
or a coward here to prove he's a man?
Which kind are you?
I'm sorry. Would you mind going over the list again?
A man of the cloth or a man of letters?
I am sorry, sergeant. I seem to have lost your meaning again.
It seems we have a letter writer in our company.
This one is addressed to me.
He didn't sign it,
but he announces himself as one of the new recruits.
"Never mind my name," he says.
"Names count for nothing in the legion.
I joined for many reasons,
but first among them is this.
I come to kill you."
"You, Dagineau,
through your ambition and your madness
have been responsible for the deaths of many men.
For this, you will die.
Always remember,
your executioner will stand before you,
beside you and behind you
in the ranks of your own men.
You will die with a bullet in your back during a battle
when one misdirected shot will not be noticed.
I tell you this to give you time
"to think of it until it happens."
I treat this letter with the contempt it deserves.
But for one thing,
I want the man who wrote it.
So I leave it to you, all of you,
to ferret out this rat
and deliver him to me.
And I know you'll do this thing
because until it's done,
I will deal with each of you as if I were dealing with him.
Nothing in hell could be less pleasant...
I promise you.
Company, dismissed!
I find that drinking leads to thinking
and thinking leads to drinking.
And idleness leads to vice.
Join me, Dagineau, for once.
Thank you, no, lieutenant. I'm on duty.
Yes. 24 hours a day, Dagineau.
Well.
About...
these new men,
it seems hardly fair to hold them all responsible
for the ravings of one unknown fanatic.
That's up to them, sir.
And I promise you in that company,
he won't remain unknown.
Not for long.
He's an educated man, I'm sure of that,
from the wording of his letter.
You're a fool, Dagineau.
Any illiterate louse can buy an educated man
to compose a letter.
You're more clever than I am, sir.
That's why you command while I only follow orders.
No, I command because I'm born to command.
I come from a long line of commanding officers.
You follow orders because you were born a soldier.
I do my best, sir.
You're the kind of soldier I can't do without.
Thank you, sir.
But you're the kind of man
I can do without.
So don't ever give me a choice, sergeant major.
That's all.
It occurs to me one of us could simplify matters
by confessing now.
Come, come, if we're to be comrades,
let's have no secrets from one another.
You look the type to shoot a man in the back.
Me, Cossack?
But he practically accused this fellow.
Say what you will, I'll keep my eye on the Italian.
In that case, Frenchman, we'll be inseparable.
What better basis for camaraderie
than mutual distrust?
You are the one who has been here before.
You are the one who knows this Dagineau.
True, regrettably.
So you are the one most apt to want him dead.
True again.
But there you see is proof of my innocence.
How so?
Having served as a legionnaire,
heroically, of course,
I know better than any of you the four cardinal sins
a legionnaire must never commit.
One, never defy a sergeant.
Two, never desert.
Three, never commit suicide.
And four, never kill a legionnaire...
especially a sergeant major.
Again, Graves! Lunge! Thrust!
No good! Do it again!
Fall out! Fall in!
Keep moving! Do it again!
Hit the dirt! On your feet!
Do it again! Don't stop! Don't think!
Dig it deep! Do it! Once again!
You, Graves, keep moving!
Fall in! Fall out!
Left! Right! Left! Right!
Heads up! Shoulders back!
Double time!
Once again!
Hit the dirt! On your feet! Don't talk!
Don't stop! Don't think!
Do it again! Again, you scum!
Again! Again! Again! Again!
- Fouchet. - I hear you, my friend.
I have no intention of opening my eyes.
It's cool in here.
Cool and dark.
There is champagne in buckets of ice.
Every night, women and violins.
Do you suppose there's room in there for us?
Get up!
My apologies, sergeant major.
I... I closed my eyes against the sun.
I... I found myself dreaming.
I know, but you'll learn.
A legionnaire must never dream.
To stay alive, you'll stay alert,
awake or asleep, eyes open or closed,
or even when your back is turned.
Graves, Boldini, Vallejo,
you wanted to join the Frenchman?
It can be arranged.
On my command, you'll march...
and continue to march
until I give the command to halt.
But, sergeant major, if we should fail to hear...
Don't.
Attention!
Here we have an object lesson
in blind obedience...
for the darkness holds no terror
for the legionnaire who follows orders.
Detail, forward.
Hut! Left! Right! Left! Right!
Left. Right. Left. Right.
- He could call it an accident. - Shut up, Boldini, and listen.
Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right.
Left. Right. Left. Right.
Left. Right. Left.
Pick up your feet.
Left. Right. Left.
Left. Left.
To the rear. Halt!
Pick up your feet!
Left. Right. Left. Right.
Left. Right flank!
March!
Left. Left. Left. Right. Left.
Right. Left. Right. Left. Right.
Stay here. To the rear. March!
Left. Left. Right. Left.
Left. Right. Left. Right.
Left. Right.
Don't move.
To the left. March!
Left. Left. Right. Left.
Right. Left. Right. Left.
Right. Left. Left.
Left. Left.
Left. Right. Left. Right.
Detail, halt!
Remove the blindfold.
In the legion, Graves,
one must be prepared for the unexpected.
You, butcher boy...
step out.
I want you to lunge at me and thrust hard.
Now.
I said now.
In Silesia, sergeant major, I instructed bayonet and saber.
Oh. You're concerned for me?
Field Marshal Krauss
will demonstrate Prussian superiority in arms.
Now, butcher boy, thrust.
Al right, field marshal, back in line.
You.
Ready, Graves?
Or maybe you think the pen is mightier than the sword.
- Ready, sergeant major. - Al right.
- Thrust. - Ha!
You were told to thrust!
In the legion, sergeant major,
one must be prepared for the unexpected.
Attention!
At ease.
Congratulations, sergeant major.
Your men show real promise.
Thank you, sir.
Yes. Well, carry on.
At ease, please. It's quite informal.
Take it. It's boring to drink alone.
I'll agree with that.
Yes. So many vices become boring.
Makes one think of the monotony of hell.
Hell.
You must make an effort to understand.
Sergeant Major Dagineau.
Why?
You know, he wasn't always the sergeant major.
He graduated an officer out of Sancerre.
And in his first major action, his men deserted him.
They broke and ran from enemy fire.
And as a result, Dagineau was broken to the ranks...
from which he has pulled himself up.
But he will never forget those enlisted men who failed him.
God... pity the man that stands in his way again.
Why tell me this?
I saw the look in your eye today.
You were ready to attack him.
I resisted the impulse.
Continue to resist.
Understand me.
I don't approve of Dagineau. Brutality repels me.
And so I take the trouble to warn you as...
one gentleman to another.
And what makes you think I'm a gentleman?
I know your reason for being here.
- No one knows that. - No one but myself.
Of course, the papers I read...
Here it comes six months late, but I do read them.
In last week's paper, plus six months,
there was a story.
Seems a man had killed himself,
an American,
and he left a note
confessing to the embezzlement of...
several thousand dollars entrusted to...
his firm.
- What's that to me? - Oh, wait.
The irony of it.
It seems another man...
his partner,
who had confessed to the same crime
some months before
and disappeared.
There were...
pictures of both men along with the story.
I see.
It seems that the two partners...
were in love with the same woman.
She married one of them.
The man who later committed the crime.
When the other man discovered the crime, he...
he took the blame and vanished.
Do you wonder where?
- Doesn't matter. - No.
Not now,
that the gallant gesture has gone for nothing.
The guilty man is stabbed by his own hand.
The innocent one is in exile
by his own choosing.
And the lady in question is a widow now...
and very much alone.
How long do you think she'll remain that way?
Five years, 'cause that's how long
you're gonna be in the legion
if you survive.
I'll survive.
Not if you cross with Dagineau.
Thank you, lieutenant.
Your given name is Beau.
It is.
Well, last names mean nothing here,
but don't you think Graves is a bit foreboding?
Couldn't you have thought of something more suitable?
How about...
Geste?
For the empty but beautiful gesture.
Yeah.
We'll call you that.
Beau Geste.
* Bom bom bom bom bom *
Observe.
Here. A bottle for my friend.
And don't accept his money, you understand?
Not one centime. This man is my guest.
Thanks, Boldini, but I was paid today too.
No, no, permit me, please.
The privilege to repay in some small part
my everlasting debt.
- You don't owe me anything. - But of course, I do.
We all do because you stand between.
Dagineau and the rest of us.
Between the devil and the damned.
Not by choice.
No, and two weeks ago,
when you pulled his teeth with your bayonet,
what was that? An accident?
Please.
You can trust me. We're simpatico.
I personally hate him so much, it kept me alive for five years.
Out of the legion I drifted.
I had nothing to sustain me, no reason for being,
so I came back.
Once more, I hate him actively.
I'm alive again.
This is a private conversation.
That is the point.
You should not talk to this one,
except in front of witnesses.
You mean to imply that he can't be trusted?
He digs for garbage. He picks your brain for secrets.
Secrets?
When the wine is in, the truth comes out,
bullfighter?
He complains of his wound
where the horn caught him when he was gored.
The moment of truth, Vallejo?
- When you lost your guts. - Shut up, Boldini.
Or shall we speak of Antoinette?
Antoinette?
No one needs to dig for your secret, Frenchman.
Every night in your sleep,
you strangle that foolish woman again.
Will you close your mouth or will I?
Let him go, Vallejo!
Vallejo, you know the punishment for fighting.
That's enough, Boldini.
Now Kerjacki doesn't drink or sleep.
Tell us, why do you lie awake all night whispering in Latin?
- Stop. - And you a Pole.
Stop.
Stop!
Forgive me, Father Kerjacki, for I have sinned.
Secrets.
To a man of perception, you're all transparent.
Here is the only man who merits my respect
because he respects himself.
I need some air.
I'm sorry.
I offended your modesty. But it's true.
We all look to you for our example.
- Do I exaggerate? - It's true.
You have as many friends as Dagineau has enemies.
But this is one you're better off without.
Now look, I appreciate all this... friendship,
but don't make me something I'm not.
I have no quarrel with Dagineau.
Well, if what you say is true, there's no hope for us
because whoever wrote that letter was either lying
or bluffing.
Six weeks already
and he hasn't killed Dagineau yet.
You forget. The plan was to kill him during a battle.
There has been no battle.
Then I'll tell him now to his face,
whichever face it is, revise your schedule
or Dagineau will finish us off before the Arabs do.
And I'll tell you this.
I'd hate to go into a battle without him.
It's true. We need the bastard.
Whatever else he is, he is a soldier, a Cossack.
Yes, and what a pity.
Because he'll never let us up for air if...
Wait.
It's simple.
We kill someone we don't need as much.
A sacrifice to Dagineau.
The scapegoat.
Yes. We pick out one worthless man.
We slit his throat and tell the sergeant
he confessed before he died.
- Brilliant, Boldini. - Who can we spare?
- Someone really worthless. - Boldini!
No.
Now wait.
No.
No! No!
Stop! He's had enough.
Release him!
Get to my quarters.
You think you've suffered up until now?
For this, you'll learn the meaning of the word,
I promise you.
What did you do to provoke them?
Nothing, my sergeant major.
The truth.
I know you, Boldini.
You'd steal a hot stove if you could lift it.
Now you got burned this time, is that it?
No, please, my sergeant major.
They resent me for my loyalty to you,
my vigilance in searching out the author of that letter.
The others protect him.
- Graves? - Yes.
- You have proof? - In time.
There must be proof...
and it must be the truth.
Yes.
To secure the proof, that will be my sacred mission.
Or failing that...
discover his weakness.
Every man has one.
If I break him...
I break them all.
Discover his weakness, Boldini...
and you'll be my corporal.
Sergeant major...
you spoil me rotten.
If I could spare the pack of you from duty,
you'd all take a turn at the whipping post
for last night's incident.
But the Tuaregs have attacked Fort Zinderneuf.
We may need your worthless hides.
Until now,
you've all suffered for the deeds of one man.
Now one man can suffer for all of you.
I don't care which one.
You pick him out for yourselves.
Only Boldini is exempt.
You have two minutes to make your choice.
Fall out!
That swine.
What man would name another to take his punishment?
The theory is not that one suffers for all,
but that all suffer for one.
- Suppose we draw straws? - No time for that now.
And no need.
It's me he wants. If not now, the next time.
Sergeant major...
it's settled.
Release him.
Fall out!
I suppose you realize you made him twice his size today.
Someone had to answer for the incident last night.
He volunteered.
So you finally made an example of him.
An example for the other men to follow.
They could do worse.
Would that mean you abandon your attack?
No, sir,
but I never underestimate an enemy.
John?
Take it easy, Beau. It's al right.
We're together now.
Oh, for God's sake.
How did you get here?
Well, I'm simple. No mind of my own.
Where my big brother goes, I follow.
Now relax, Beau.
Let me take care of you for a change.
Where are the other men?
Off on a 30-mile march in that boiling sun.
But I knew you'd think of some way to stay in the shade.
And you shouldn't be here.
If they come back and find you...
They'll just have to get used to that.
I just checked in at the reservation desk.
Took a five-year lease on that bunk right next to you.
- You didn't enlist? - Why not?
They take you, they take anyone.
You idiot.
Stupid.
No, no, feebleminded.
You didn't tell him you're my brother?
What? Enlisted on my own name.
No, that's not playing the game.
It's plain old Johnson now.
By the way, what's yours?
Well, the lieutenant calls me Geste.
Beau Geste.
It's a private joke.
Not to me.
You know, that Sutton killed himself?
How did Isabelle take it?
It might have been easier if you'd been there.
Speaking of idiots...
Beau...
she said if I should find you, to give you this.
When we were kids, you always wanted it.
It's her father's.
When I'd been especially nice,
she used to let me listen to it.
Well, maybe she thinks you've been especially nice.
I'd forgotten how pretty she was.
I'm remembering how beautiful she is.
Write to her. Tell her that.
- I can't. - Tell her something.
Beau, she knows the mistake she made. She'll wait...
No.
For five years, I can't promise anything.
Not even to stay alive.
How did you find me?
How often when we were kids
did we both threaten to run off and join the Foreign Legion?
But I knew you'd be stupid enough to do it.
I've been to a dozen outposts,
bribed a dozen incorruptible officials.
Now tell me.
What have you done to deserve all this?
Johnny, listen to me
and listen carefully.
You've got to stay away from me.
You can't even know me, at least for a while.
There's a sergeant here.
His name is Dagineau.
If he ever finds out you're my brother...
Well, he can't, that's all.
His brother.
One who loves him well enough to follow him even here.
Blood of the same blood, my sergeant major.
Have I given you what you wanted?
The weakness, yes.
And do I get what you promised?
I keep my word,
even to a jellyfish.
Yes, Boldini. You'll be my corporal.
Attention to orders!
This battalion has been divided for the purpose
of strengthening our defenses on the frontier.
One half under Lieutenant De Ruse.
We'll bivouac tonight at Hoggard,
then continue across the desert
and will relieve
the garrison troops at Fort Zinderneuf.
Zinderneuf. I'll go to hell to get away from here.
That's the trade we are making.
Detail!
Carry on!
- You, Johnson. - Yes, sergeant?
There's been no time to train you.
But that's your misfortune
because we can't leave a man behind.
You'll have to keep up with the others.
- I'll keep up. - Well, good.
You're in condition then.
- I think so. - Do you?
Well, let's find out.
Hit me.
Here. As hard as you can.
I'd rather not...
That's an order!
Hit me and don't hold back.
Not bad for a civilian.
But not good enough for the legion!
We'll have to toughen up that belly!
Meanwhile, you'll march with us, four behind,
and you die where you'll fall.
I promise you.
That I take it was the, official word of welcome.
So now we know.
The road to hell isn't all downhill.
Or paved with good intentions.
Who was it that told me about the gay
glamorous life of a legionnaire?
I hope his feet are killing him.
I don't believe we've met.
We speaking now?
The sergeant's beginning to wonder why we don't.
Delighted. The name is Johnson.
That's high enough!
Working party!
Fall in behind the wall!
The prayer for the dead, Kerjacki?
Tell me.
How do you reconcile killing with prayer?
How do you not?
Bang.
It's not the same.
It's not quite the way we imagined it.
Playing soldiers.
Oh, we played heroes, John.
That's a very different game.
And we died so well.
Oh.
Remember the funeral you gave me when I was, seven?
- Funeral? - Yeah.
Well, if you've forgotten, I damn well haven't.
- I still bear the scars. - Oh!
Where the seat of my pants caught fire.
The Viking funeral.
Of all my funerals, my very favorite.
The burning ship
heading out to sea with all its sails set.
And the dead Viking in it.
With his sword and his shield by his side.
And the watchdog at his feet.
Don't forget the watchdog. That's most important.
Oh, I remember.
I was so taken with that funeral,
you promised to give me one just like it. Remember?
Absolutely guaranteed.
Come to think of it, it's a very good sign.
- It is? - Well...
We can't dig up a ship out here,
much less a sea to sink it in.
Which means
neither one of us can die for at least five years.
I promise you.
You two.
Since you don't need sleep, stand guard.
One there and one there.
The centurion come to help carry the cross.
Beg your pardon, sir?
Forgive me. I was just thinking that...
it must have been on such a night that Christ was born
and in such country that He was crucified.
Some things don't seem to change.
Not in any obvious way, but they do change.
The dry rot sets in.
And this too will pass away.
To the walls!
Fix bayonets!
Ceasefire. Ceasefire!
Ceasefire!
Our military escort is still with us.
Try to look at the bright side.
At least we know where three of them are.
Get up there!
I'm gonna leave you here, do you understand?
They're waiting for you up on the ridge.
Here, look, you see?
It's amazing how long they can keep your nerves alive
with no flesh on them.
About this Dagineau, I wonder who his mother was.
If it hadn't been for her,
none of us would get to Fort Zinderneuf alive.
March or die!
And all you have to think about is one foot at a time.
And I'll tell you which one.
And the left foot and the right!
And the left and the right!
Left, right! Left, right!
Left, right! Left, right! Left, right!
Guards, bugler!
Hold 'em!
Halt!
Sergeant major.
Sir.
Bring me my horse.
- Sir, I don't think that... - Don't think!
I've come to take command here.
By God, I'm not doing it on my belly.
Now bring me my horse.
Yes, sir.
There's the difference, Johnny,
between playing soldier and being one.
Stand free, sergeant major.
Attention!
Yes, men,
we have come to replace our legionnaires.
We, too, are legionnaires!
Forward!
March!
One foot, march in time.
Two squad! In a line!
Right, forward.
Company, halt!
Right face!
Lieutenant De Ruse
arriving with replacements, sir.
These... are my orders.
These orders direct me to lead all garrison troops
back to Sidi Bel Abbes at once
and turn over command of the post to you.
Damn it, De Ruse,
your men are more in need of relief than mine.
I...
request permission to assume command.
Command is yours, lieutenant.
Thank you, sir.
- Sergeant major. - Sir!
The wounded will be removed to quarters.
Post sentries.
- Fall out the others. - Yes, sir.
Stay with him.
I know what your men have been through,
but get them back on duty as fast as you can.
And for their own sake, sergeant major,
don't be too easy.
- I'll try to be firm, sir. - Carry on then.
Forward march!
Who is this one for?
De Ruse probably.
He's not dead yet.
Dagineau believes in being prepared.
That would make four dead this week.
Five.
Five?
Oh, yes. Counting the cook.
That ought to be deep enough even for Dagineau.
Now that's not a bad idea.
Too shallow.
You, finish up
and put your back into it.
I've had my eye on you. You're a born slacker.
I've been meaning to ask.
Why did you join the legion?
That's the one question no legionnaire
ever asks another.
When your commanding officer asks a question,
you'll answer.
When he does, I probably will.
I command here.
Answer me, you scum.
Answer me.
So you couldn't wait until my back was turned.
Good, because it won't be a bullet you'll get from me,
but you'll beg for one before you die.
I promise you.
"Therefore, for the crime of assault against a person
of a superior officer,
beginning this date, said punishment
will be given between the hours of sunup and sundown
and repeated each day
at the discretion of the commanding officer
by order of Sergeant Major Dagineau,
acting commandant,
"Fort Zinderneuf."
Proceed.
For God's sake, Fouchet, what are they doing to him?
It is better not to know.
I'll kill Dagineau, I swear it.
No, that has been decided.
If he lives, your brother will have that pleasure.
- My brother? - Yes, we know.
- How? - Boldini.
- Then Dagineau knew it too. - Of course.
So it's done. Every man agrees.
Dagineau dies tonight.
We only waited to give you the honor of leading us
and driving the first bayonet into his belly.
We mutiny and then?
We cross the desert to Morocco to freedom.
- And the Tuaregs? - We are a fighting unit.
None of us could make it alone. Together we'll get through.
What about De Ruse?
We'd have to kill him too.
- We take him with us. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It'd be kinder to kill him here.
No, my friends, it's no good.
Not while there's a chance for De Ruse.
But you'll be dead before he is. Have you forgotten?
Tomorrow you'll be buried again and the next day and the next.
You'll be dead, De Ruse will die
and they'll kill Dagineau in any case.
But we're asking you to join us.
You will cross the desert with us, my friend,
even if we have to carry you, yeah?
- Yeah, yeah. - Quiet!
I've come to warn you. Dagineau knows about the mutiny.
- You swine, you! - He guessed!
He... he forced me to tell,
but I... I'm loyal to you.
So I come to tell you that I told him.
Wait. Let him talk.
We said we'd kill him if he told.
And he'll kill me for telling you.
You won't feel it as much the second time.
He's prepared for you.
He's armed himself.
That settles it. Are you with us?
No.
And you?
Not without him.
Al right, turn off the lights.
Now!
Halt!
Stand or die!
Drop your weapons!
Get him now!
He'll kill them all.
Haven't you had enough?
Crawl on your bellies, you dogs! Crawl to me!
One of us can make it to the wall before he sees us.
Wait!
Now, you pig, you will do for bayonet practice.
Give me.
Beg my pardon, Dagineau.
Tuaregs!
Let him down! Let him down!
Who else is fit to command?
Yeah.
Al right.
To the walls!
Spread out!
Ceasefire! Ceasefire!
Ceasefire!
We're alive.
Next time I do some damned fool thing,
maybe you'll have sense enough to stay out of it.
I can't think of any place I'd rather be.
Al right, pig sticker!
Up in the tower.
Up, field marshal.
From there, you can plan your march to Morocco.
Now they know our strength!
So we'll call up our reinforcements!
From now on, the bullets won't bother him!
Al right, put 'em to their posts.
Get them up!
I said now.
Put them up.
Drag those mutinous dogs up here and put them at their posts.
They'll serve the legion better dead than they did alive.
Still holding at 1000 meters. No advance.
Now we're expected to tremble in our boots for an hour or so.
Clockwise from here.
Every third man goes below to be fed.
You have 15 minutes
beginning now!
Bon appetit.
Go on ahead. I'll join you.
And what is more important than breakfast?
De Ruse.
It's you.
I've been meaning to send for you.
Here.
No, no, closer.
Beau,
the men, they listen to you.
Dagineau, you must tell them that he's in command.
They'll follow orders, sir.
But you must put a stop to this insanity.
You can put it right somehow.
It's my fault,
not Dagineau's.
I wrote that letter.
- You? - Yes.
As a man, he was everything I despised.
But as a... soldier,
he made me despise myself.
Advancing now very slowly.
Al right, move it!
When I wrote it, I'd been drinking.
I'd hoped to put some fear into him,
some weakness, some... humanity.
But it only made things worse for all of you.
And it only made him stronger.
I doubt that it changed anything in him or any of us.
Beau, put an end to differences.
Forget the past. What is done is done.
- The thing is... - It's forgotten, sir.
The thing is, damn it,
we are legionnaires.
We stand together!
Nothing else m... mat... matter.
I understand, sir.
Get to your post!
More ammunition!
There's no use. This is the end of it.
Now!
- Ceasefire! - Ceasefire!
Ceasefire!
God, we... we stopped 'em.
We never could have done it without me.
And Dagineau.
I almost forgive him at times.
Your turn in the tower.
As I said, almost.
What's the dream this time, Fouchet?
What did De Ruse say before he died?
He said you're in command.
It occurs to me...
you could have saved me some time and trouble
by not stopping Krauss with that bayonet.
I didn't wanna do you any favors.
You know, I've been thinking
it's beginning to look possible after all.
What is?
Our Viking funeral.
In that?
No.
But our ship's going down in flames...
and we're adrift...
in a sea of sand.
Don't bury us yet, Johnny.
We're alive.
Al right, big brother.
Come to think of it, something's missing.
A very important item, the watchdog.
No Viking funeral complete without it.
What's he looking for? A miracle?
Relief could come today.
Relief?
How? You haven't sent word.
It doesn't have to be sent.
There are many tribes out there, not all are enemies.
They watch, they listen. They pass the word.
Be optimistic!
You may still survive to face a firing squad!
Here they come!
Along the wall. Keep moving along the wall.
Along the wall.
Fix bayonets!
Why? Why did they stop?
Well... your wax museum is nearly finished.
My gallery of heroes.
Heroes?
Is that what being dead does for the scum of the earth?
Yes.
It was all over.
Then they fell back. Why?
It wasn't the three of us. I told you.
Relief is on the way.
- Not a sign of life. - Still, it's coming.
They know it. The word is out.
I promise you.
You'll see them first up there.
I'll go.
He'll go!
I gave an order.
I'll go.
About that letter...
I'm satisfied that whoever wrote it
is already dead.
Let me take him.
You put your hands on him and I'll kill you!
No sign from the men on the walls.
They've come back?
It's the relief column.
Then why'd you fire?
To give us some time to ourselves.
You may find this hard to understand.
Those men...
died as traitors.
But they would've been heroes if there'd been no mutiny.
The legion needs heroes.
So... there was no mutiny.
Depending on which of us is left to tell the story.
Then you do understand.
The men at the walls, they're dead, sir.
There, Johnny. There's your watchdog.
I'm sorry. Perhaps you didn't hear me.
I said it's time we had your version of what happened here.
Lieutenant De Ruse died
as a result of wounds received in action.
The fort was attacked by Tuareg tribesmen
and was defended...
heroically...
to the last man...
under the command of Sergeant Major Dagineau.
It's what we hoped,
expected to hear.
In the best traditions of the legion.
But now we've been ordered to abandon Fort Zinderneuf.
The high command has decided
it isn't worth the cost of holding it.
As soon as you can travel, you'll be going back with us.
I sincerely hope you have something...
or someone to go back to.
I do, sir.