[4][5][6] The film's background is the Algerian War and Alain Delon plays Thomas Vlassenroot, a deserter of the French Foreign Legion in Algeria during the 1961 uprising.

[7] When a former lieutenant who now works for the OAS proposes to him to kidnap lawyer Dominique Servet (played by Massari), Thomas agrees.

Caught giving Dominique water, Thomas goes on the run after a shoot out with his OAS colleagues, who subsequently begin to hunt them down.

[8][self-published source] Thomas Vlassenroot, a citizen of Luxembourg, after his divorce, decides to enlist in the French Foreign Legion.

Dominique Servet is in Algiers working for the prosecution on a case involving important Europeans, her Algerian witnesses making her a target of the OAS.

He puts water in the cell, and tells his girlfriend Maria (whose devotion he can only partly return) to go and release Fraser once he's safely out of Algeria.

Thomas asks for a moment to adjust his bandages then shoots the other OAS man with a gun he had concealed under the bedclothes—again leaving Fraser alive, because he can't kill in cold blood.

[11] A film still featuring Delon was used by the English rock band The Smiths for the cover of their album The Queen Is Dead.