Sahara (1943/I)

Director:

Zoltan Korda

Writers:

Philip MacDonald (story)
John Howard Lawson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 November 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

THE STAR OF "CASABLANCA" IN THE WAR'S MIGHTIEST ADVENTURE DRAMA! (original three-sheet poster)

Plot:

Sergeant Joe Gunn and his tank crew pick up five British soldiers, a Frenchman and a Sudanese man with...

Plot Keywords:

Tank | Propaganda | Desert | Sergeant | Remake

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Sgt. Joe Gunn
Bruce Bennett	...	Waco Hoyt
J. Carrol Naish	...	Giuseppe
Lloyd Bridges	...	Fred Clarkson
Rex Ingram	...	Sgt. Major Tambul
Richard Nugent	...	Capt. Jason Halliday
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

Also Known As:

Port Said (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1944-1945) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #9040)

Filming Locations:

Brawley, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The German aircraft strafing the tank was actually an early P-51B.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: As in most of the films made about WWII before 1946. The German helmets are WWI vintage. They look somewhat similar. This movie, however, being made in 1942-43 would make it very difficult to obtain German WWII helmets.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Oh! Susanna

Pedantic But Entertaining

This Zoltan Korda-John Howard Lawson World War II curio is at times a superb war film, with fine pace, excellent location photography and some excellent, unflashy acting. It is a story in the tradition of The Lost Patrol, as experienced U.S. Sgt. Humphrey Bogart, in a tank, helps a motley crew of soldiers, mostly British, in search of either their unit, safety or water, whichever comes first. They wind up at a desert fort and are eventually attacked by a German regiment that is also desperate and thirsty, and some exciting action scenes of fighting and exhausted men are the result.

Bogart is his usual charismatic self in the lead, and the supporting cast is nearly as good, especially Bruce Bennett and J. Carrol Naish; the former is quiet and dignified, as was his custom, the latter typically flamboyant, but this time his florid acting is appropriate. Overall I like this movie a lot. Like all the best war films, it focuses on seemingly small things, such as well that has gone dry (or has it?), the glaring sun, the little stories of home life,--for once not corny. There is a black African solider who is treated as an equal, and well-acted by Rex Ingram. Now and again, though, the movie turns preachy, as a certain internationalist tendentiousness creeps in, which, even if one finds its agreeable, detracts somewhat from the exciting story and makes it at times feel like a tract on the need for cooperation among nations.