Ice-Cold in Alex (1958)

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Christopher Landon (novel)
Christopher Landon (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 October 1958 (West Germany)

Genre:

Adventure | War | Drama

Plot:

A group of army personnel and nurses attempt a dangerous and arduous trek across the deserts of North Africa during the second world war...

Plot Keywords:

Beer | Ambulance | Desert | WWII | Quicksand

Awards:

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

John Mills	...	Captain Anson
Sylvia Syms	...	Sister Diana Murdoch
Anthony Quayle	...	Captain van der Poel / Hauptman Otto Lutz
Harry Andrews	...	MSM Tom Pugh
Diane Clare	...	Sister Denise Norton
Richard Leech	...	Captain Crosbie
Liam Redmond	...	Brigadier (DDMS)
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Brigadier's Staff Officer
David Lodge	...	CMP Captain (tank trap)
Michael Nightingale	...	CMP Captain (checkpoint)
Basil Hoskins	...	CMP Lieutenant (Alexandria)
Walter Gotell	...	1st German Officer
Frederick Jaeger	...	2nd German Officer
Richard Marner	...	German Guard
Peter Arne	...	British Officer at Oasis

Also Known As:

Desert Attack (USA)
Ice Cold in Alex (UK) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

129 min | USA:76 min (1961)

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | UK:A (1958) (cut) | UK:PG (1988) | USA:Approved (PCA #19618) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)

Trivia:

The ambulance used is an Austin K2, which saw widespread service with the British during WWII.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the second encounter with the Afrika Korps the German troops have what appears to me a modified Sherman Tank, whilst this is correct to the era it is an American tank, not German.

Quotes:

Capt. Anson: [draining his glass of beer] Worth waiting for.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

It's a personal thing....

I've seen Ice Cold In Alex three or four times over thirty years. Each time I find it more impressive.

At one level of course it's a classic adventure story: four people pitched against an amazing, hostile environment, one of whom is evidently not who he appears to be. Incident by incident, (and the pace of the film never flags) the tension builds and our view of the characters deepens.

But what struck me most last time I viewed it was how untypical a 50s war film it is. Most films of that era have an uncomplicated, patriotic message - in this case, they would usually concentrate on the adventure itself, and the unmasking of the spy, as the main points of the story.

ICIA is quite different. It is ambiguous, not simplistic in its political values. The British characters act in a way which is practically treasonable themselves - they hide the fact that Quayle is a spy from the authorities. Of course the shock element of the ending is that you don't expect them to do this until the actual moment in the bar in Alex when they confront Quayle. But in retrospect you can see how early in the film the Mills character prepares the ground - the critical moment is when he throws away Quayle's jacket after saving him from the quicksand.

The nearest the film gets to patriotism is presenting tolerance and loyalty as quintessentially British values.

Mills as the alcoholic anti-hero is particularly good. I love that line "It's a personal thing.." Sylvia Sims is also good as the woman who sees the admirable qualities of Mills beneath the lush, and "knows what she wants".

The very end of the film also seems to me to buck convention. We might expect to return to the British characters after Quayle is taken away (as a POW, not a spy), to witness an emotional parting. Instead, we see events from Quayle's eyes, looking out from the back of the lorry that takes him off through the streets of Alexandria. What happens to the Brits is left to our imagination.