BEAU GESTE (1926)

Special Features: 100th Anniversary | New 4K Restoration | Live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton

A trio of British brothers — played by future Oscar® winner Ronald Colman, Neil Hamilton 40 years before he became Commissioner Gordon on TV’s BATMAN and the prolific Ralph Forbes — find themselves in the French Foreign Legion and at the mercy of a sadistic commanding officer (Noah Beery). William Powell shines in the supporting cast, eight years before he portrayed Nick Charles in the THE THIN MAN movie series. One of Paramount Pictures’ most popular films of the 1920s — and awarded the Medal of Honor by Photoplay magazine as one of 1926’s best movies, the year before the Academy Awards® arrived — Herbert Brenon’s epic spectacle inspired multiple sequels, remakes and, eventually, parodies. With this monumental restoration, the film can now reach modern audiences. (Note courtesy of Rialto Pictures.) DIR Herbert Brenon; SCR Paul Schofield, Herber Brenon, John Russell, from the novel by Percival Christopher Wren; PROD Jesse L. Lasky, Adolph Zukor. U.S., 1926, b&w, 133 min., plus 15-min. Intermission. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

The film was originally released in roadshow format with an intermission and went through two cuts. A final print was struck from the original negative in 1939 for research toward the remake. At that time the negative had hundreds of splices and missing and damaged footage. Unfortunately, that print was struck on a printer for sound films, and the left side of the image was lost. Because of the importance of the film, there was a perception that it was protected. Multiple archives held different elements, but the reality was that not a single complete element of high quality had survived.

Presented by Film Preserve LTD., The Maltese Film Works and San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris and James T. Mockoski. Restoration supervised by the Library of Congress, in collaboration with Paramount Pictures, Library of Congress, UCLA Film and Television Archive, Museum of Modern Art and George Eastman Museum. Restoration funded by Olivia & John Farr and The Lucille and Paul Maslin Foundation.

Run Time: 133 Minutes

Opening Date: Friday, November 06, 2026

Genre: Silent adventure

View Series Page