Five Graves to Cairo (1943)

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Lajos Biró (play) and
Charles Brackett (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 May 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | War

Tagline:

Did a Woman Start the Rout of Rommel?

Plot:

The fate of Cairo is in the hands of a British corporal undercover in Rommel's headquarters.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Hotel | Map | Reference To Winston Churchill | Assumed Identity

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Franchot Tone	...	Cpl. John J. Bramble / Davos
Anne Baxter	...	Mouche
Akim Tamiroff	...	Farid
Erich von Stroheim	...	Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Peter van Eyck	...	Lt. Schwegler (as Peter Van Eyck)
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Gen. Sebastiano

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #9090) | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:15

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Billy Wilder wanted the role of Cpl. John J. Bramble/Davos (ultimately played by 'Franchot Tone') to be played by Cary Grant, but Grant was unavailable.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bramble walks/runs into the town his shadow is behind him, then in front, then again behind him.

Quotes:

Lt. Schwegler: Our complaints are brief. We make them against the nearest wall.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shadows of Suspense (2006) (V)

Ahead of its time

Billy Wilder was one of the best directors of his era, so it's no surprise that, in spite of a certain amount of wartime propaganda, 'Five Graves to Cairo' has a fizzy plot, a strain of black humour and a lightness of touch that sets it apart from the majority of films made at this time. It's also interesting as a film made while the war was still going on: far from demonising the enemy, it provides a generous portrait of Rommel, an unpleasant but human German army and a comedy Italian general for light relief. The plot also features a cynical Frenchwoman and a slightly racist realisation of an Egyptian: in some ways it's surprising to see how little this almost-fresh picture differs from those made later (if anything, since we discovered Auschwitz, it's been harder to make a film that shows that humanises the Nazis). 'Five Graves to Cairo' isn't Citizen Kane, and of course today this sort of thing would be done with much more violence, sex, and swearing: but that's a kind of recommendation in itself.