March or Die (film)

March or Die is a 1977 British war drama directed by Dick Richards, produced by ITC Entertainment. Set in the 1920s, it follows a detachment of the French Foreign Legion sent to Morocco. Major Foster (Gene Hackman), a war-weary American still haunted by memories of the recently ended Great War, is ordered to protect a team of archaeologists excavating near Erfoud. Among his legionnaires is Marco Segrain (Terence Hill), a charming burglar who enlisted to escape prison, while the dig itself is led by François Marneau. The expedition soon faces the threat of Bedouin revolutionaries commanded by El-Krim (Ian Holm), a character modeled on the real Moroccan revolutionary Abd el-Krim. Catherine Deneuve and Max von Sydow also star. The melody "Plaisir d'amour", a song of lost love and regret, recurs throughout the film as its musical theme, underscoring the story's atmosphere of duty and melancholy in the desert.