Legend of the Lost

Saharan quest to a lost city with John Wayne and Sophia Loren

A no-nonsense guide in Timbuktu (Wayne) agrees to take a man (Rossano Brazzi) to find ancient ruins his father claimed existed. A voluptuous woman of dubious reputation joins the expedition (Loren), which naturally affects both men.

"Legend of the Lost" (1957) is a desert adventure with amusing dramatics that no doubt influenced the Indiana Jones flicks of the 80s, but not as much as Charlton Heston’s “Secret of the Incas” (1954). Whilst some of the altercations during the journey seem manufactured, I’ve traveled with actual people who constantly create this kind of drama, so it’s not exactly unrealistic.

Other than Wayne and Sophia in the cast, the best feature is the actual Saharan locations, especially the ruins of Leptis Magna (which in real-life is located an hour’s drive east from Tripoli on the coast). The weak link is the dubious transformation of a certain character, which isn’t properly resolved or adequately explained.

In ways this reminded me of a Conan desert yarn, just minus the sword & sorcery.

The film runs 1 hour, 49 minutes, and was shot in Libya (Zliten, Leptis Magna, Libyan Desert, etc.) with studio stuff done in Rome, which is due north across the Mediterranean Sea.

GRADE: B-