Legend of the Lost

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Henry Hathaway directs. Jack Cardiff behind the camera. Angelo Francesco Lavagnino scores. Bert Bates cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Italy, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 269 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3International production across 2 countries: Italy, United States of America.
• 4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 5Directed by Henry Hathaway, shot by Jack Cardiff. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Bert Bates shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8John Wayne and Sophia Loren and Rossano Brazzi carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "Wayne Tangles with Loren...In the Adventure that's Hotter than 1000 Suns!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0050629 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Only 76 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 12Classified under 8 themes, including "prostitute", "parent child relationship", "greed", "wilderness".

The technical file

Cinematography

Jack Cardiff

Original score

Angelo Francesco Lavagnino

Editing

Bert Bates

Costume design

Gaia Romanini

Makeup / hair

Web Overlander

Runtime

109 min · 1h 49m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,750,000

Box office

$2,200,000

Return

126% of budget

Original language

EN

IMDB

Legend of the Lost (1957) ↗

Also by

Henry Hathaway

• 
  Under the Tonto Rim

  1933 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Wild Horse Mesa

  1932 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Last Round-up

  1934 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Sunset Pass

  1933 · ★ 8.0
• 
  True Grit

  1969 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Fourteen Hours

  1951 · ★ 7.3

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Blu-Ray Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2022-05-14
  ★ 6/10

  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-

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2024-09-15
  ★ 6/10

  I quite liked the idea of John Wayne and Sophia Loren searching for Egyptian treasure, but sadly this - though colourful - is really pretty disjointed. There is virtually no chemistry between either star, or with co-star Rossano Brazzi ("Paul") with whom Loren is ostensibly in love until their loot-hunting desert escapades begin and she starts to fall for the Duke. To give it it's due, Henry Hathaway did ship 'em all out to Libya so the settings are authentic enough but the story is predictable and fairly dull - and the score heavily over dramatises what dramatic moments there actually are. Both have considerable screen presence, but sadly this is a jigsaw of a film where the pieces just don't fit together. As an adventure film, it veers more towards being a romance, and as a romance it just falls a bit flat... Perhaps with a stronger supporting cast, it might have worked better but as it is - it's just another Wayne western just in a different desert.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Batjac Productions

  US

• DE

  Dear Film

  IT

Key crew

• ProducerHenry Hathaway
• EditorBert Bates
• Art DirectionAlfred Ybarra
• Makeup SupervisorWeb Overlander
• Production ManagerNate H. Edwards
• Costume DesignGaia Romanini
• Script SupervisorGina Guglielmotti
• Unit Production ManagerGordon B. Forbes
• Assistant DirectorJoseph Lenzi
• Production ManagerFranco Magli
• SoundJohn K. Kean
• Assistant DirectorEdward Morey Jr.
• SoundWally Milner
• Set DecorationAlfred Ybarra

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• prostitute
• parent child relationship
• greed
• wilderness
• treasure hunt
• sahara desert
• lost city
• technirama

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1957-12-17

Also known as

International titles

• Çöl melikesiUS
• TimbuctùUS
• Verinen erämaaUS
• Arenas de muerteES
• Leyenda de los perdidosAR
• Stadt der VerlorenenDE
• Легенда о потерянномRU
• Under Saharas solSE