Enjoyable warfare film with impressive battles and love stories , it results to be a clear-eyed and sincere tale of the siege of Malta by the Germans and Italians during WWII . As it is set in the hot , rocky Island Malta , near Sicily , that was a fundamental location -along with Cyprus , Alexandria , Gibraltar- for both , Axis Army and Allied Army . That's why it was really besieged and bombed by the Luftwaffe , serving the essential island in the North African campaign as point to attack or defend Rommel's Afrika Korps that are heading for El Alamein. Against this wartime background scenario in 1942, a Royal Air Force pilot, RAF, Sir Alec Guinnes in transit to El Cairo is assigned a dangerous mission of reconnaissance . As he has to take photographs the Axis Aviation , convoys and Nazi routs . Along the way ,the British flier carries out some serendipitous discoveries of enemy vessels and he has a crush on a Maltese native : the delicately touching Muriel Pavlow , but then things get worse , as Allied convoys attempting to access the island to deliver food are heavily bombed and the local population are suffering extreme hunger and penury . Now ! Another Great Performance in the Alec Guinnes Hall of Fame !
A decent and typical warfare story along with two love tales starred by two couples : Alec Guinnes-Muriel Pavlow and Anthony Steel-Renee Asherson . It depicts the severe hardship of the terrestrial and aerial combats , including daily bombings , food shortages , starving , famine suffered by local population and anything else . The picture blends real footage like actual air raid , adding authentic Maltese faces and reenacting aviation attacks with production design enough . Alec Guinnes gives a nice acting as the flier becomes involved with the defense of Malta . Alongside the main actors delivering workmanlike service types from Jack Hawkins , Anthony Steel and the two charming women : Muriel Pavlow and Renee Asherson , all of them delivering appropriate interpretations , there are also several prestigious secondaries giving brief but attractive performances , such as : Flora Robson , Nigel Stock, Ralph Truman, Michael Craig , Maurice Denham , Gordon Jackson, Richard O'Sullivan , Reginald Tate , Stuart Burge , Lee Patterson, Rosalie Crutchley , and Geoffrey Keen as a British soldier , subsequently usual Minister of Defence in James Bond movies , among others .
. Furthermore , it displays an atmospheric and adequate cinematography in black and white by Robert Krasker . As well as an evocative musical score by classy composer William Alwyn . The motion picture was competently directed by Brian Desmond Hurst , providing a nice filmmaking that is sharper than the storyline . Desmond Hurst brings brilliantly to life the island of Malta during war time , creating such moments as kiddies at play while bombing , close-up of native people and showing peculiar native roles .
