Sahara [DVD] [2002]

This black and white war film was made in 1943 for propaganda purposes and it was one of better Hollywood WWII morale raisers, mostly, but not exclusively, because of stellar performance by Humphrey Bogart. Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS.1. Origins and descendance of "Sahara"This film traces its roots to a short novel called "Patrol", written by Philip MacDonald, a British veteran of World War I. It told the story of a group of eleven British soldiers surrounded by hostile Arab tribesmen in a small oasis in the middle of Iraqi desert, during 1918 Mesopotamian campaign. The novel became popular and was adapted to the screen first time in United Kingdom as a silent movie in 1929, under the title "Lost patrol". The film was quite good, Hollywood noticed it and in 1934 John Ford directed an American remake. His version, named "The lost patrol", became a worldwide success, thanks in large part to the amazing performances of Victor McLaglen and Boris Karloff.Amongst people who loved this film the most was Stalin himself, who, unknowingly to most people, adored American cinema - when in the same time refusing his subjects the right to watch those "decadent" movies. Stalin enjoyed greatly those private séances in Kremlin's projection room during which he could relax between two campaigns of mass murder... "The lost patrol" pleased him so much that he ordered a Soviet remake, and it was indeed turned in 1936 and released in 1937, under the title "The Thirteen".Soviet director Mikhail Romm changed of course the story, transferring the time of action to Russian Civil War (1917-1922) and the place of action to Central Asia deserts. The total number of defenders of the oasis was increased to thirteen (a number considered as unlucky in Russia too), including eleven Red Army soldiers and two civilians. The enemies were Central Asian Muslim tribesmen led by White Armies counter-revolutionary officers. Stalin liked this film too and as result Mikhail Romm wasn't executed or send to a concentration camp during the Great Terror (1934-39), unlike so many of his colleagues...Then came December 1941, United States entered war and soon became allies of Soviet Union. Hollywood started a mass production of patriotic flag waivers the day after Pearl Harbor and in the end of 1942, with all the excitement around the operation "Torch" and battles of El Alamein and Stalingrad, somebody had the idea of making a film which would celebrate the allied soldiers fighting in the desert when in the same time being a nice gesture towards the Soviets - a Hollywood adaptation of "The Thirteen".The film, released ultimately in November 1943, became a great success and was later remade twice more: in 1953 as a western "Last of the Comanches" (a.k.a. "The sabre and the arrow") and in 1995 again under the title "Sahara", with James Belushi taking over the main role once played by Victor McLaglen in 1934 and Humphrey Bogart in 1943.2. The filmThe action of this film takes place in 1942 immediately after the battle of Gazala (26 May - 21 June), which was Rommel's greatest and most brilliant victory ever - therefore ipso facto it was also a particularly difficult time for the British forces in North Africa, as their great fortress of Tobruk was lost and they were forced to retire deep into Egypt... In this film it was decided to add some American troops to British 8th Army even if in reality not even a single US soldier fought in North Africa before the operation "Torch" in November 1942.Therefore, at the beginning of the film we can see five Americans trying desperately to repair their damaged tank "Lulu Belle" to avoid capture by Germans. Their leader is Sergeant Joe Gunn played by Humphrey Bogart in person. One of the crewmembers, Fred Clarkson is played by Lloyd Bridges who, even if he is today more remembered for his "Airplane" and "Hot Shots" comedy roles in the 80s and 90s, was already in this time an experienced actor and since he began his career in 1936, "Sahara" was already his 43rd film!A little bit later in the film the five Americans will be joined by five Commonwealth soldiers (British, Irish, Australian, South African), then by a Sudanese sergeant from British Army and his Italian prisoner and finally by a Free French corporal. The presence in this time and in this place of Free French troops, which fought excellently at Bir Hakeim, a battle waged in the same time as the greater Gazala fight further north, is actually a historical fact. The last to join this group - very, VERY unwillingly - will be a Luftwaffe pilot, whose plane was shot down. Those fourteen ill-assorted companions and "Lulu Belle" will try to make it back to allied lines by going through the deep desert, when avoiding roaming German patrols, some of them pretty large and heavily armed. Then, of course, they will at one moment find a little abandoned oasis with a very small but incredibly precious water hole... And then the film really begins.3. My general impressions about the filmIt is a rather good war film and it is always a pleasure to watch Bogie in anything - as far as I am concerned I would watch him even in a commercial for broccoli...))) The desert and the abandoned oasis are very well filmed and the black and white actually adds to the charm of the film rather than diminishing it. Action scenes are not half bad, even if they are NOT so many. The ending is particularly STRONG!That being said, the propaganda character of this film is obvious from the begining to the end and many dialogs are actually just the recitation of slogans - and with time it becomes a little bit annoying. The multinational character of the group was of course supposed to be the symbol of the common anti-Axis alliance but it was mostly used for more very primitive, humourless propaganda. I found particularly amusing and very naive the attempts to explain that ultimately Christianity and Islam (the Sudanese sergeant is Muslim), well, it is more or less the same thing...))) Finally, the German pilot character is so evil that he is obviously a total caricature - as is, in the different register, the hapless and pathetic Italian prisoner Giuseppe...4. Lulu BelleThe embattled tank which carries the heroes and is their main weapon against the wandering German hordes when bravely soldiering on through the deep desert, is a M3 Lee. This medium tank was introduced into service in US Army in August 1941. Many hundreds of them were delivered to United Kingdom as part of "Lend and Lease" agreement. M3 Lee was quite heavily armored and powerfuly armed, with one 75 mm and one 37 mm gun, as well as four machine guns. It took no less than six men to operate this armored vehicle. Many of those tanks took part in battle of Gazala and they performed well, as they were actually more powerful than Wehrmacht's Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks used in this time - still, Rommel's superior tactics allowed Germans to destroy and capture most of British armor at Gazala. The M3 Lee and its improved version M3 Grant served in first line until the end of war in North Africa in April 1943 - after that, the survivors were replaced by the much superior M4 Sherman.At least 1300 of those tanks were also delivered to Soviet Union beginning with the end of 1941 and initially they served well, but with the arrival on the Eastern Front in summer 1942 of large numbers of German new Panzer IVF2 tanks and Pak 40 75mm anti-tank guns, they became much, much more vulnerable. In 1943, with casualties mounting, their Soviet crews started to call them "Six brother's grave" but so great were the needs of Red Army that they continued to be used in the first line until the apocalyptic Kursk battle in July 1943. After this monumental fight the few that were still left were send to secondary sectors, like Arctic Front.This film is definitely the best occasion for all military history freaks to see a M3 Lee in action - a lot!CONCLUSION: for all reasons explained above, this is a quite interesting war film. Not exactly a masterpiece, somehow aged and certainly damaged a little by the heavily served propaganda, but still quite worth seeing. Enjoy!

First rate film - Acting, direction, sound quality and camera work every bit as engaging aa the best films we produce to-day indeed in most aspects better. All the more so when this film was made during the 2nd World War.

First and foremost it is a Bogey movie and his sheer presence is enough, in my opinion, to carry any movie. As a Bogart fan, this particular film I have not seen since I was very young and usually as a Sunday afternoon feature. The transfer to DVD is fair, though the early night and sand storm scenes are a little dark and grainy. This aside the story is a simple one of good against evil with a good dose of propaganda thrown in, but we wont hold that against the director given the year. The film carries a strong message of duty, quiet courage and a belief in what is right. The interactions between the characters brings out a gambit of social and ethnic veiw points which given the time was probably a brave statement to make in a film that would have been used in the war effort. One touching scene shows a discussion between one of the American tank crew and the African soldier on the differences between muslim and christian marraige values, the outcome of which showed no difference at all for the characters. This look into the the lives and the values of the combatants involved, showed that not everybody's view in 1943 was as black and white as some war films. It is a simple story with strong characters and a fight against the desert as well as the Germans. Yes I know the Germans are the bad guy's with all the underhanded, vicious nature that most films of the time portrayed, but as I have said this was 1943 and somebody alway's has to be the fall guy in hero film's. Four stars due to the grainy nature of the early part of the film but a good Sunday afternoon film.

This is a good movie, with an excellent performance from Bogart as usual.Clever plot but almost spoiled by a silly twist at the end.

A wartime (1943) movie set in North Africa; It`s an entertaining yarn that emphasises the allies working together with the Americans just arrived in the campaign together with their M3 Lee tanks.The flag-waving isn`t as bad as many American movies of this genre and in fact it is fairly balanced in it`s depiction of battle and the way soldiers work together – though many of the main tropes are present.The story-line in general is perhaps a little far-fetched but it doesn`t stop it from being a good film that holds up well despite it`s age and period context.The UK DVD release has no significant extras; English subtitles are available if required.

Great film great actors and actresses and such a great classic film very entertaining and very enjoyable it’s one of those films once seen never forgotten P davies From Wolverhampton

A rousing non-stop battle against the sand,the lack of water, and the germans. Brilliant script and direction gave us a lot of reasons to be proud to be an american without the over-the -top dialogue found in so many mid-war released movies. Easily in my top ten WWII films. The other reviewers were right on!

Though you must take a "step back" when reviewing such films, considering they were produced during actual hostilities, this film stands the test of time some 70 years later. These wartime movies were part of the fabric of those days, creating a feel good factor among the viewing public. You could be a little harsh, surely FM Montgomery defeated the Afica Corps, not Humphrey Bogart, but the message of the film is to stand firm against tyranny, and who better at that time to make such a stand than Bogarts "league of nations". Great film, great location, woth its five star rating.