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.
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Title: The Desert Rats (1953)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Richard Burton | ... | Capt. 'Tammy' MacRoberts | |
| James Mason | ... | Field Marshal Erwin Rommel | |
| Robert Newton | ... | Tom Bartlett | |
| Robert Douglas | ... | General | |
| Torin Thatcher | ... | Col. 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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Plot Summary
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Add Synopsis
Storyline
Rommel has the British in retreat on his way to the Suez Canal. All that stands in his way is Tobruk, held by a vastly out numbered force of Australian troops. Richard Burton leads these troops on daring raids against Rommel, keeping him off balance as they earn the nickname 'The Desert Rats'. Written by Derek Picken <dpicken@email.msn.com>
Taglines:
The Desert Demons Who Stopped Rommel, The Desert Fox! See more »Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
20 May 1953 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Les rats du désert See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$1,320,000 (estimated)Company Credits
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IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
Edit
Capt. 'Tammy' MacRoberts: We've got no use for boys here - particularly not as officers.
Tom Bartlett: You can't be much older than he is.
Capt. 'Tammy' MacRoberts: I don't know whether I am or not. I do know that I've been here for a year and one of the first things I learned was that this isn't a game for children. Men get killed and stay killed.
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
This was among the last films produced by 20th Century Fox in the standard academy format. Only four months later they would begin releasing films in their CinemaScope format, starting with "The Robe" (1953) which also starred Richard Burton. See more »Goofs
When the British planes are firing at the trucks carrying the prisoners, the Germans fire back but appear to be using American Thompson M1A1s as opposed to MP40s. See more »Quotes
Tom Bartlett: He's just a boy, he...Capt. 'Tammy' MacRoberts: We've got no use for boys here - particularly not as officers.
Tom Bartlett: You can't be much older than he is.
Capt. 'Tammy' MacRoberts: I don't know whether I am or not. I do know that I've been here for a year and one of the first things I learned was that this isn't a game for children. Men get killed and stay killed.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Opening credits prologue: 1941 LIBYAN DESERT NORTH AFRICA See more »Contribute to This Page
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This was the first movies I was ever allowed to stay up and watch on the old Saturday Night At The Movies show on NBC so it has always had a fond place in my heart. Although some might dismiss it as clichéd, it is a tight, well told story that some of today's films might do well to emulate. The realism, ambivalence, and irony of today's war films is definitely missing but one should remember that this was the "good" war. While the other reviewers may criticize its historical accuracy, as someone who grew up hearing war stories from American and Canadian WWI and WWII veterans, it does capture the feeling of a period without going overboard on heroics or far-fetched plot twists.