Rope of Sand (1949)

A man abused by a sadistic mining company cop before he could tell where on their desert property he'd found diamonds decides to steal them instead.

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Walter Doniger (story), John Paxton (additional dialogue)

Stars:

Burt Lancaster, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Burt Lancaster	...	Mike Davis
Paul Henreid	...	Commandant Paul Vogel
Claude Rains	...	Arthur Martingale
Peter Lorre	...	Toady
Corinne Calvet	...	Suzanne Renaud
Sam Jaffe	...	Dr. Francis Hunter
John Bromfield	...	Thompson (guard)
Mike Mazurki	...	Pierson (guard)
Kenny Washington	...	John
Edmund Breon	...	Chairman
Hayden Rorke	...	Ingram
David Thursby	...	Henry (bartender)
Josef Marais	...	Specialty Singer
Miranda Marais	...	Specialty Singer (as Miranda)

Storyline

Two years ago, hunting guide Mike Davis was with a client who trespassed on diamond company land and found a rich lode; Paul Vogel, sadistic commandant of company police, beat Mike nearly to death but failed to learn the location. Now Mike is back in Diamantstad, South African desert, and manager Martingale has a better idea: he hires delectable adventuress Suzanne to ferret out Mike's secret. But she soon finds she's playing with fire.

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Plot Keywords:

desert | diamond | adventuress | scars on back | shooting a horse | 

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Taglines:

A Mighty Story of Savage Greed and Sultry Love Set in the Dreaded Desert that Guards the Dark Continent's Forbidden Diamond Fields!

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Genres:

Adventure

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Afrikaans

Release Date:

3 August 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blutige Diamanten

Filming Locations:

Yuma Desert, Sonoran Desert, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Wallis-Hazen

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Screen Director's Playhouse" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on April 28, 1950 with Burt Lancaster reprising his film role.

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Goofs

When Vogel tries to kiss Suzanne, the lighting changes completely from one cut to the next.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: This part of the desert of South Africa, where only a parched camel thorn tree relieves the endless parallels of time, space, and sky, surrounds like a rope of sand the richest diamond-bearing area in the world -- an uneasy land where men inflamed by monotony and the heat sometimes forget the rules of civilization.

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Soundtracks

"Zulu Warrior"
(uncredited)
Written by Josef Marais
Performed by Josef Marais and Miranda Marais

User Reviews

A classic B & W adventure

Rope of Sand, an adventure thriller supposedly set in post-WW II South Africa, certainly receives the vote of "classic" in my book. Far away places, a romance triangle, suspense, even a bit of humor at times...it's all there in a neatly executed, well-acted plot that makes you wish YOU could have been there and tried just what Burt Lancaster did. I have watched this movie more than half a dozen times over the years and still get that sense of intrigue and mystery and fascination with the setting and story that I got on the first occasion, as a child. The film noir era was coming to a close when this movie was created in 1949 but most of the crucial elements are there including use of the black and white, music score, contrasting dialog and action scenes, and so on, right up to the final scene. Perhaps the screenplay might have gotten a little more mileage out of Corrine Calvet and Burt but we need to remember that we're judging films of this era against a different yardstick. I seriously don't think that this movie would have come together at all using actors working today because they would all be hungering for a bigger piece of the movie than anyone got here or typically does get in film noir. This is not to mention what current directors typically do as a substitute for what film noir did with the camera and timing of scene combinations. So I disagree with the previous reviewer. Watch this if you can and enjoy!