FROM TOBRUK TO ALEXANDRIA… THEY HAD TO MAKE IT… EVEN IF ONE OF ‘EM WAS A TRAITOR!
In 1941, a group of British soldiers and nurses try to cross a North African desert in an ambulance, welcoming a South African officer (Anthony Quayle) who may have ulterior motives.
One of several British war movies at the time, perhaps best remembered today for one of its closing scenes that decades later became a classic Carlsberg ad. Worth watching for more than that, though. A troubled production resulted in a film that looks like it was made with blood, sweat and tears; nature and Nazis prove to be challenging for the ambulance crew.
Exciting, with excellent performances by John Mills and Sylvia Syms.
1958-U.K. 130 min. B/W. Directed by J. Lee Thompson. Screenplay: Christopher Landon, T.J. Morrison. Novel: Christopher Landon. Cast: John Mills (Captain Anson), Sylvia Syms (Diana Murdoch), Anthony Quayle (Captain van der Poel), Harry Andrews (Tom Pugh), Diane Clare, Richard Leech.
Trivia: First released in the U.S. in a 79-min. version called Desert Attack.
Quote: “Worth waiting for.” (Mills after drinking his beer, a quote later used in ads)
Last word: “You may find this hard to believe, but there was very little acting. It was horrible. We became those people … we were those people. […] We didn’t know what Method acting was, we just called it ‘getting on with it’.” (Syms, 2015 DVD interview)
