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The Desert Rats
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The Desert Rats (1953) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   1,052 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 32% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Robert Wise
Writer:
Richard Murphy (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Desert Rats on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 May 1953 (USA) more
Genre:
Action | Adventure | Drama | War more
Tagline:
They crawled their way across the blazing sands of Africa... to turn disaster into victory!
Plot:
Richard Burton plays a Scottish Army officer put in charge of a disparate band of ANZAC troops on the perimeter of Tobruk with the German Army doing their best to dislodge them. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win more
NewsDesk:
Desert Rats Star Tingwell Dies
 (From WENN. 21 May 2009, 2:55 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
"Tommy Guns" factual not entirely true... more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Richard Burton ... Capt. 'Tammy' MacRoberts

James Mason ... Field Marshal Erwin von Rommel
Robert Newton ... Tom Bartlett
Robert Douglas ... General
Torin Thatcher ... Colonel Barney White
Chips Rafferty ... Sgt. 'Blue' Smith
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell ... Lt. Harry Carstairs (as Charles Tingwell)
Charles Davis ... Pete
Ben Wright ... Mick
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Additional Details

Runtime:
88 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | German
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Australia:G (DVD rating) | Canada:G (video rating) | New Zealand:PG | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #16243) | West Germany:12

Fun Stuff

Goofs:
Factual errors: During the last commando raid by Australian soldiers on a German base, the defenders are using Vickers machine guns when in reality they should be using MG34s. more
Quotes:
Capt. 'Tammy' MacRoberts: [MacRoberts and the surviving Australian soldiers under his command on the hill of Ed Duda have been sent scrambling for cover, ducking into their makeshift shelters only seconds ahead of an incoming artillery barrage. For several slow minutes, explosions have savaged the hill while the defenders can only hunker down and wait for it to stop. When it finally does they remain hidden, not wanting to emerge too soon. Will Rommel's artillery treat them to an encore, or will thousands of Afrika Corps troops come swarming up the slopes of Ed Duda? They continue to wait in silence. It is broken by MacRoberts. Certain that their last battle is at hand, he rallies the Australians to the summit of the hill to meet the expected German charge head-on] MacROBERTS: Fix bayonets! Come out of your holes, you desert rats! Let's go! You! You! more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Modern Problems (1981) more
Soundtrack:
Greensleeves more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful:-
"Tommy Guns" factual not entirely true..., 6 November 2005
9/10
Author: loutootx2 from United States

The factual about the Germans using Thompson sub machine guns is only partially true....While the Germans did not outfit their troops with the extremely popular gun of American origin....it is an indisputable fact that throughout the war in all theaters....and especially in a hotly contested battle ...which the first "battle of Tobruk" certainly was....captured enemy weapons were frequently used as is evidenced even within the film when the "Rats" turned the Germans guns on them....by the way in one case it was clearly an "army surplus" 50 caliber heavy machine gun also American made.....but these little nits and picks do little to detract from the overall flow of the movie.

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