''Rogues' Regiment'' is a 1948

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

Robert Florey Robert Florey (September 14, 1900 – May 16, 1979) was a French-American director, screenwriter, film journalist and actor. Florey directed more than 50 films, the best known likely being the Marx Brothers first feature ''The Cocoanuts'' (1929 ...

and starring Dick Powell, Märta Torén, and Vincent Price. It is the first American

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

to be set in the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

Plot

An American Intelligence Agent and

Nazi hunter A Nazi hunter is an individual who tracks down and gathers information on alleged former Nazis, or SS members, and Nazi collaborators who were involved in the Holocaust, typically for use at trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against hum ...

is on the trail of a former SS

war criminal A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

reminiscent of

Martin Bormann Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, private secretary to Adolf Hitler, and a war criminal. Bormann gained immense power by using his position as Hitler ...

believed to be hiding in the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

. He joins forces with a French Intelligence agent investigating supplies of weapons to the Việt Minh from the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

Cast

* Dick Powell as Whit Corbett * Märta Torén as Lili Maubert * Vincent Price as Mark Van Ratten * Stephen McNally as Martin Bruener a.k.a. Carl Reicher *

Edgar Barrier Edgar Barrier (March 4, 1907 – June 20, 1964) was an American actor who appeared on radio, stage, and screen. In the 1930s he was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre and was one of several actors who played Simon Templar on ''The Saint (r ...

as Colonel Mauclaire * Henry Rowland as Erich Otto Heindorf *

Carol Thurston Carol Thurston (born Betty Lou Thurston; September 27, 1920 – December 31, 1969) was an American film and television actress who played the fictitious Emma Clanton in eight episodes (1959–1961) of the ABC/ Desilu western television series ...

as Li-Ho-Kay * James Millican as Cobb * Richard Loo as Kao Pang * Philip Ahn as Tran Duy Gian * Richard Fraser as Rycroft * Otto Reichow as Stein * Kenny Washington as Sam Latch * Dennis Dengate as O'Hara * Frank Conroy as Colonel Lemercier * Martin Garralaga as Hazeret * James Nolan as American Colonel (James F. Nolan) * Paul Coze as French Commander (also acted as film's technical adviser)

Production

Max Ophüls was hoping to direct the film but was passed over in favour of Robert Florey. The film was first announced in November 1947 with writer-producer Robert Buckner saying he was inspired by stories of former Nazis enlisting in the

. In particular he researched the disappearance of

. Edmond O'Brien was originally announced as star. It was made shortly after the production of another film about the

, '' Outpost in Morocco''.

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor. Initially known for playing tough characters with tender hearts, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year caree ...

was sought for a supporting part. In March 1948 it was announced Universal signed Dick Powell to play the lead. Edmond O'Brien dropped out of the film to make a movie with Deanna Durbin. It was meant to be the 60th film directed by Robert Florey at Universal.

Release

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' said the film had an "arresting premise" which "went the way of just another cops and robbers chase". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that "if this man-hunt for a vicious, top-flight Nazi in the environs of Saigon bears more than a passing resemblance to a dozen other film chases of recent vintage, mark it down as topical, at least. If credibility is by-passed more than once, it is all done briskly and with good will."Review of film
at ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Adaptation

In 1951 Dick Powell reprised his role in a radio adaptation of the film on ''

Screen Directors Playhouse ''Screen Directors Playhouse'' (sometimes written as ''Screen Directors' Playhouse'') is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadca ...

''.

References

External links

* *
Complete film
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Radio adaptation
at

{{Robert Florey 1948 films 1940s action thriller films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Robert Florey Universal Pictures films Films set in Vietnam Films about the French Foreign Legion American black-and-white films First Indochina War films Films about Nazi hunters American exploitation films Films scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof American action thriller films Film noir 1940s American films English-language action thriller films