Sahara (I) (1943)

Sergeant Joe Gunn and his tank crew pick up five British soldiers, a Frenchman and a Sudanese man with an Italian prisoner crossing the Libyan Desert to rejoin their command after the fall ... See full summary »

Director:

Zoltan Korda

Writers:

John Howard Lawson (screenplay), Zoltan Korda (screenplay),

Stars:

Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, J. Carrol Naish

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Humphrey Bogart	...	Sgt. Joe Gunn
Bruce Bennett	...	Waco Hoyt
J. Carrol Naish	...	Giuseppe
Lloyd Bridges	...	Fred Clarkson
Rex Ingram	...	Sgt. Major Tambul
Richard Aherne	...	Capt. Jason Halliday (as Richard Nugent)
Dan Duryea	...	Jimmy Doyle
Carl Harbord	...	Marty Williams
Patrick O'Moore	...	Osmond 'Ozzie' Bates
Louis Mercier	...	Jean Leroux, 'Frenchie' (as Louis T. Mercier)
Guy Kingsford	...	Peter Stegman
Kurt Kreuger	...	Capt. von Schletow (as Kurt Krueger)
John Wengraf	...	Maj. Von Falken

Storyline

Sergeant Joe Gunn and his tank crew pick up five British soldiers, a Frenchman and a Sudanese man with an Italian prisoner crossing the Libyan Desert to rejoin their command after the fall of Tobruk. They and the Germans are greatly in need of water.

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Plot Keywords:

tank | desert | sergeant | propaganda | world war two | 

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Taglines:

SENSATIONAL! DRAMATIC! EMOTIONAL! MEMORABLE! (original one-sheet poster)

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Italian

Release Date:

11 November 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Port Said

Filming Locations:

Brawley, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last of the Comanches, made by the same studio about a decade later, was loosely based on this movie.

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Goofs

One of the machine guns shown is an M1917A1 Browning belt fed, water cooled machine gun. The gun has an eight pint cooling system that is recycled via hose to a reservoir. In this film there is no hose or reservoir visible; even though the gun is fired at length.

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Quotes

Sgt. Joe Gunn: You heard my offer. Water for guns.

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Crazy Credits

"In June, 1942, a small detachment of American tanks with American crews, joined the British Eighth Army in North Africa to get experience in desert warfare under actual battle conditions...History has proved that they learned their lesson well - -"

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Connections

Referenced in M*A*S*H: The Moon Is Not Blue (1982)

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Soundtracks

"Oh! Susanna"
(uncredited)
Music by Stephen Foster
Played on the harmonica by Patrick O'Moore

User Reviews

Rousing WWII Patriotic War Film

Sahara although not usually contained in the compendium of Bogey's best movies is a rousing WWII action movie. The plot involving a rag tag group of allied soldiers,along with Bogey's M-3 Grant Tank "Lulu Belle" holding a North African well against a motorized battalion of the Afrika Korps is enough to set the tone of this movie. I will not go into the plot any further but state that it was filmed in 1943 and it was a morale booster. The acting is first rate and the fact that an African-American actor, Rex Ingram was treated as an equal, as Sergeant-Major Tambul, Fourth Sudanese Battalion was far ahead of his time. A movie I see every time it plays. It was remade for TV with James Belushi playing the Bogart role as Master Sergeant Joe Gunn, USA and was a good movie in its own right. However, the Bogart version sets the standard. A must see movie for Bogey fans and WWII film buffs.

Michael Wolkow, Colonel, Infantry, Retired