Lion of the Desert

Oliver Reed, the megalomaniac vanguard of Mussolini's Roman Empire, mumbles his way across Libya in 1929, decimating and concentrating and finally hanging Bedouin leader Quinn. At which, with smug hindsight, we do not blanch, knowing that everyone gets their just deserts (pronounce this either way) eventually. History furnishes an eventful plot, the film-makers supply the stereotyped characters, and the heavens (apparently) an ethereal chorus, resulting in a not unenjoyable ripping yarn.