Lost Command

Lost Command is a 1966 war film directed by Mark Robson and filmed in Spain. The screenplay was written by Nelson Gidding, based on the 1960 novel The Centurions by Jean Lartéguy. The film stars Anthony Quinn, Alain Delon, George Segal, Michèle Morgan, Maurice Ronet and Claudia Cardinale. The film, which focuses on the story of French paratroopers battling in French Indochina and French Algeria, was provided technical advice from French military Commandant René Lepage, formerly with the 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment. The character played by Anthony Quinn is loosely... based on Marcel Bigeard, the actual commander in French Indochina of the predecessor of the 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment . Bigeard later commanded the 3rd Colonial Parachute Regiment in French Algeria. The film was released within four years of the end of the Algerian war for independence, and included scenes that reflected actual atrocities by both sides. Lost Command was banned in France for ten years. In the final moments of the 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu, a weakened French garrison anticipates a last assault by communist Viet Minh troops.
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