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:

"Lulubelle" is an M3 Lee tank.

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: They'd want to know. Halliday, Doyle, Tambul, Williams, Stigman, Frechie, Clarkson... They stopped them at El Alamein.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Oh! Susanna

Excellent film!

Shot in the American desert instead of the real Sahara due to the war, this movie is one of the best war films ever made. The desert is so bleak and barren, and the sun so bright, you can almost feel the heat in your living room. Sahara shows us just how brutal the conditions were in North Africa during the war, and how nature brought suffering to both sides. The Allied soldiers are a mix of a lot of different nationalities (American, British, French, South African, Irish, Sudanese) and we see how these men from diverse backgrounds come together to survive against the elements and the Germans. The Germans themselves have the usual stereotyping of nastiness that is found in most films of the 1940s, but even they are shown to be individuals and not a faceless enemy. Get a cool drink and watch Sahara - it's a great movie.