Dark Sands (1937)

During WWI, action hero Robeson escapes an unjust death sentence to ramble around Arabia.

Director:

Thornton Freeland

Writers:

George Barraud, Walter Futter (story)

Stars:

Paul Robeson, Henry Wilcoxon, Wallace Ford

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Paul Robeson	...	Cpl. Jericho Jackson
Henry Wilcoxon	...	Capt. Mack
Wallace Ford	...	Mike Clancy
Kouka	...	Gara
John Laurie	...	Hassan
James Carew	...	Maj. J.R. Barnes
Lawrence Brown	...	Pvt. Face
Rufus Fennell	...	Sgt. Gamey
Ike Hatch	...	Pvt. Tag
Frank Cram	...	Col. Lake
Frank Cochrane	...	Agouba
George Barraud	...	Explorer
Frederick Cooper	...	Explorer
Henry Aubin	...	Explorer

Storyline

During the Great War, a Negro corporal, Jericho Jackson, disobeys an order and saves crewmen trapped below deck after an attack. A sergeant dies in the incident; Jackson is court-martialed and sentenced to death. He bolts, and his captain unjustly gets a five-year sentence for aiding his escape; the captain vows to bring Jackson to justice. Meanwhile, Jackson has stolen a boat and sailed from Bordeaux to Morocco where his skills as a physician give him a new lease on life. He becomes a chief responsible for negotiating peace among tribes and leading the annual great salt caravan. A confrontation with his old captain is, however, unavoidable. Can there be justice?

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Plot Keywords:

tap dancing | dancing | captain | sergeant | salt | 

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Genres:

Drama | Musical | Adventure

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dark Sands

Filming Locations:

Cairo, Egypt

Company Credits

Production Co:

Buckingham Film Productions, Capitol Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #372.

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Soundtracks

Deep Desert
Written by Michael Carr and Jimmy Kennedy
Sung by Paul Robeson

User Reviews

Paul Robeson once again astounds with his acting and singing in Jericho

This is another Paul Robeson film I watched on a DVD set collection of his selected movies. In this one, he plays a World War I soldier who despite saving some lives, also disobeyed orders of a superior officer and accidentally killed him. So he gets court martialed but then manages to escape. Unfortunately, that also means the officer in charge of guarding him (Henry Wilcoxon) will serve five years in prison for supposedly aiding him. Robeson then stows away with another drifter (Wallace Ford) before they settle in a desert area. I'll stop there and just say this was another compellingly told drama from Robeson and, of course, he gets to display his fine singing voice as well. So on that point, I recommend Jericho. P.S. I just found out this Wallace Ford was the same one whose last role was that of an alcoholic grandfather in Sidney Poitier's A Patch of Blue.