This is a wonderful exercise in inter-cultural events. Where else can you find 8 marooned sailors in Inner Mongolia trying to negotiate with Mongolian nomads, and coming out on the wrong end, but getting turned around and surviving any way? My favorite scene: Mongolians are "supposed to lead" the sailors to the sea, but half-way the natives decide to do something else. When the US navy guys protest, the nomads give them their sadles back! Now, what are eight sailors going to do with ninety saddles in the middle of the Gobi desert? Stay tuned. Many familiar faces in unfamiliar roles and circumstances.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Destination Gobi
(1953)
Well directed, well acted, true story. Better than some think.
23 October 2022
Foreign Student
(1994)
not credible
14 May 2021
I was there. I arrived in the US from Paris France for my first year in the US in 1954 (v. 1955 in the movie.) I had no idea what "Football" was. I went out. I said I wanted to be a "guard" because I thought that's what they called the guy in the backfield who "protected" the "Quarterback" who then threw me the ball (what I really wanted.) When they told me to get in the line, I didn't know what to do. So, when the ball was snapped, I pulled out of the line and ran around the end with the quarterback. "Hey, Mr. McGehee, Ned is running away!" That's when I realized that American boys could be nasty, unlike the affable qb in the movie. That's when I felt bullied for the first time in my life. That's when I realized that American boys are raised to be "over-competitive." I'm eighty now, and I've come through fine; but, it wasn't as easy as in Hollywood. In summers, I lived in the mountains of North Carolina, where I made good long-term friends amoung the mountain people, who are neither bullies nor prejudiced. This movie rang very hollow to me, as though it was written by a foreigner who was never there. Sh-boom.
Tell Your Friends