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 love scene between Anson and Diana had to be re-shot after the British censor decided that Sylvia Syms had too many buttons undone on her blouse, revealing too much cleavage. Censor John Nicholls had already requested over 80 alterations to the script before shooting and, following protests by director J. Lee Thompson, he was eventually replaced as BBFC chief by John Trevelyan in May 1958. Other additional dialogue cuts included the removal of the phrase 'made a balls of it' and the overdubbing of 'bloody good old bitch'.

Goofs:

Continuity: The level of beer in the glasses changes inconsistently between shots when they are finally drinking in Alex

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

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

My favourite war movie

Ice Cold in Alex used to show up on the late show on CBC years ago, and it has also been on some of the cable channels. It gets better with each viewing. When the subject of war movies comes up, I always tell people this is my favourite war movie, and, in my opinion, one of the best - and usually get a blank look. They recognize the cast when I list them, though. And it is a great cast - Mills, Andrews, Quayle. And I am totally in love with Sylvia Sims in this. (I guess I must have a thing for beautiful women, with no makeup, sweating in khakis. I loved Juliette Binoche in Canadian battledress in The English Patient, too - but I digress).

This is simply good storytelling and great character drama in a setting that tests character, with an authentic look and feel and superb B&W photography of the kind that distinguished so many post-war 'neo-realist' films. There are so many great moments such as van der Poel lifting the ambulance, the 'surprise' encounter with the SAS (?) man, the Blimpish officer's encounter with an 88-mm shell in his Humber staff car, Mill's moments of crisis, stunning closeups of Sylvia Sims, and and especially that moment in the bar which makes you want to run out for a tall frosty one. Next time I view it, I will indeed have a cold Carlsberg waiting in the fridge. Years ago, I was sailing across Lake Winnipeg to Gimli on a slow, hot July day, with little wind, I promised we would enjoy beer and pizza when we finally made it to harbour, and I was thinking of this movie.

I am also a bit of a military vehicle buff, and I like this movie for that, too - for me, the ambulance - I think it's an Morris-Commecial CS11/30F, or maybe a Ford WOT2, but I'd have to see the movie again to be sure - is also one of the stars. Cranking-up-the-sand-dune is probably my favourite scene with it. The Wages of Fear /Scorcerer comes to mind as a comparable vehicle-as-character movie.

Vehicle buffs will also enjoy the anachronism of seeing a Land Rover parked on the street in the background of the final shot - the car wasn't in production until 1947.