Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Karīm al-Khaṭābī, better known as Abd el-Krim, was a Moroccan political and military leader and the president of the Republic of the Rif. He and his brother M'Hammad led a large-scale revolt by a coalition of Riffian tribes against the Spanish and French Protectorates of the Rif and the rest of Morocco. His guerrilla tactics, which included the first-ever use of tunneling as a technique of modern warfare, directly influenced Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong and Che Guevara. He also became one of the major figures of Arab nationalism, which he actively supported.
The Battle of Annual was fought on 22 July 1921 at Annual, in northeastern Morocco, between the Spanish Army and Rifian Berbers during the Rif War. The Spanish suffered a major military defeat, which is almost always referred to by the Spanish as the Disaster of Annual which is widely considered to be the worst defeat suffered by the modern Spanish Army.
"Le Boudin", officially "Marche de la Légion Étrangère", is the official march of the Foreign Legion. "Le Boudin" is a reference to boudin, a type of blood sausage or black pudding. "Le boudin" colloquially meant the gear that used to be carried atop the backpacks of Legionnaires.
Mr. Eko is a fictional character played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the ABC television series Lost. He is introduced in the second season episode "Adrift" as one of the plane-crash survivors from the tail section. Flashbacks reveal that he became the leader of a gang of guerrillas to save his brother when he lived in Nigeria. He assumed his brother's identity and became a priest after his brother was killed in a failed drug smuggling operation; Eko was ostracized, and left Nigeria to become a priest in Australia. After investigating the alleged miracle of a girl who came back to life after drowning in Australia in 2004, Eko boarded Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. The plane crashed and left Eko, along with a few other survivors, on a deserted island.
Lionheart is a 1990 American martial arts film directed by Sheldon Lettich, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Rennard, Harrison Page, Lisa Pelikan and Brian Thompson. It also features the acting debut of Ashley Johnson. Van Damme plays a French Foreign Legionnaire stationed in Africa, who must desert to the United States and enter the underground fighting circuit to raise money for his murdered brother's family.
Maximum Risk is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam in his American directorial debut, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Natasha Henstridge. The plot follows French police detective Alain Moreau as he becomes entangled in an international conspiracy encompassing Russian gangsters and corrupt American officials, with various parties after his life because of his uncanny resemblance to a dead mob informant. His only ally appears to be his doppelganger's girlfriend, Alex Bartlett (Henstridge).
Renegades is a 1930 American pre-Code film directed by Victor Fleming for Fox Film. It stars Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy, and Noah Beery. Jules Furthman based his script on André Armandy's novel Le Renégat. Fleming shot in the Mojave Desert where the extreme heat proved a severe impediment to the production. Bela Lugosi has a relatively small role as the Marabout, a Rif sheik whom Loy's character manipulates, but his character is important to the story. An uncredited Victor Jory in his film debut plays a Legion officer. Critics mostly acclaimed the film as "a great action picture" and "a box office hit" that had to be held over.
The Rif War was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain and the Berber (Amazigh) tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco.
"The Cost of Living" is the 5th episode of the third season of Lost, and the 54th episode overall. It aired on November 1, 2006, in the US, averaging 16.07 million viewers, and on December 5, 2006, in the UK, being watched by 1.15 million viewers. The episode was written by Monica Owusu-Breen and Alison Schapker and directed by Jack Bender. The plot centers on the character of Mr. Eko, who in flashbacks shows how he became a priest replacing his dead brother Yemi, and in the present day events is haunted by visions of Yemi while other castaways decide to visit a Dharma Initiative station.
March or Die is a 1977 British war drama film directed by Dick Richards and starring Gene Hackman, Terence Hill, Catherine Deneuve, Max von Sydow, and Sir Ian Holm.
Sheldon Lettich is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is best known for his collaborations with Jean-Claude Van Damme and his work in the action film genre.
La Bandera is a 1935 French drama film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Annabella, Jean Gabin and Robert Le Vigan. It was based on the 1931 novel La Bandera by Pierre Mac Orlan. After committing a brutal murder in Paris, a Frenchman flees to Barcelona where he enlists in the Spanish Foreign Legion. He is sent to fight in Morocco where he unexpectedly bonds with his comrades and marries a local woman before his past begins to catch up with him. Like Duvivier's other works of the period, the film is infused with poetic realism.
Les Morfalous is a 1984 French adventure film, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and directed by Henri Verneuil, featuring the French Foreign Legion during the Second World War.
Bullet to the Head is a 2012 American action film directed by Walter Hill. The screenplay by Alessandro Camon was based on the French graphic novel Du plomb dans la tête written by Matz and illustrated by Colin Wilson. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christian Slater, and Jason Momoa. Alexandra Milchan, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Kevin King-Templeton produced the film. The movie follows a hitman (Stallone) and a cop (Kang) who are forced to work together to bring down a corrupt businessman (Akinnuoye-Agbaje) after they are targeted by the businessman's assassin (Momoa).
The Legion of Missing Men is a 1937 Monogram Pictures film about the French Foreign Legion set in the French protectorate of Morocco. Directed by Hamilton MacFadden, it stars Ralph Forbes who had also served in the cinematic Foreign Legion in Beau Geste (1926) and Beau Ideal (1931). Singer and actress Hala Linda was married to Richard Gump, the composer of the film's "The Legionnaires Song". It was the only film of Monogram's Marlene Dietrich imitator. The film features scenes reused from a silent film, presumably Under Two Flags.
Best Laid Plans is a 2012 British drama film directed by David Blair and produced by Michael Knowles for Made Up North Productions Limited. The film was released to select cinemas on 3 February 2012 and is loosely based on John Steinbeck's 1937 book, Of Mice and Men.
Daniel Caltagirone is an English actor, best known for his roles in The Beach, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, and the Oscar-winning film The Pianist. His breakthrough role came in the television series Lock Stock, where he played series lead Moon. He is father to two children with ex-wife Melanie Sykes.
Adlay Gideon "Adi" Stenroth was a Finnish officer in the French Foreign Legion. He was likely the only Finn who ever became an officer in the Legion.
1958 Rif riots, Rif Revolt or Rif uprising took place in the northern Rif region of Morocco by tribes rebelling against the Moroccan government, motivated by the region's marginalization. The revolt, led by Sellam Amezian, had a clear set of demands: political and social rights, the departure of foreign troops from the country, the return of the resistance leader Abd el-Krim from exile, the dissolution of political parties, the liberation of political prisoners, and the installation of a "people's government". The coups and protests aimed at overthrowing the monarchy of the sultan and king Mohammed V of Morocco and his Alaouite dynasty in Morocco and forming a democratic republic.
The Union is a 2024 American spy action comedy thriller film directed by Julian Farino from a screenplay by Joe Barton and David Guggenheim. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Alice Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, and J. K. Simmons.
