Lost Command

A French paratroop commander, Pierre Raspeguy, returns from captivity in Vietnam to find himself without a command. Through the influence of the Countess de Clairefons, who promises to marry him if he reaches the rank of general, he receives a new posting in Algeria, where French forces are fighting an insurgency. There he rebuilds a unit of hardened soldiers with the help of Captain Esclavier, worn down by years of war, and Captain Boisfeuras, who thrives on it. The conflict turns personal as Raspeguy confronts an old comrade who has joined the rebels, while Esclavier's loyalties are divided by his relationship with an Algerian woman.

The film is based on Jean Larteguy's novel about French officers shaped by colonial wars, and was directed by Mark Robson, who also produced it, from a screenplay by Nelson Gidding. It was the eleventh of the thirteen features Robson directed, appearing between Von Ryan's Express in 1965 and Valley of the Dolls in 1967. Anthony Quinn heads a large cast as Raspeguy, with Alain Delon as Esclavier, George Segal as Mahidi, Michèle Morgan as the Countess, Maurice Ronet as Boisfeuras and Claudia Cardinale as Aisha, among 39 credited performers.

Audience responses to the film are modest, with a rating of 6.3 out of 10 on IMDb from around 2,700 votes and 6.2 out of 10 on TMDB from a much smaller number of votes.