After the end of World War I Francois Marneau heads an expedition of French archeologists traveling to Marocco. For their protection a group of Legionnaires under the command of West Point drop-out Major William Sherman Foster accompanies the scientists through the desert. Foster's motley band includes an on-the-lam cat burglar named Marco Segrain, the ex-guardsman from the deposed Russian monarchy Ivan, adventure-seeking aristocrat Fred Hastings, and the alluring beauty named Simone Picard. As the band makes their way to Morocco, they cross paths with the fervid and bloodthirsty Arab leader El Krim, who vows to unite his people to expel foreigners from their land. When the archeologists start digging up the treasure of an ancient Maroccan grave they are slaughtered by El Krim men.