Sahara (1943)

Great Film overall

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

. . . were titled similarly to the more recent movie, it would be called LULUBELLE--not SAHARA. Set about two years earlier than FURY, there's no room for the kind of fun and games with the ladies enjoyed by Brad Pitt's tank crew. Humphrey Bogart's team already has been whittled down to just three (including his own character, Master Sergeant Joe Gunn) when this story begins. Unlike Pitt, "Bogie" doesn't enjoy the luxury of fresh reinforcements, either. No local gals are plying Bogie's men with food and drink; there are NO females, NO food, and--worst of all--almost NO water available to survive the torrid zone desert heat. The one similarity between "Fury's" battle and "Lulubelle's" is that they both involve a lone piece of American armor facing a seemingly overwhelming Nazi horde. The difference is that the cast of SAHARA look like actual soldiers--NOT playboys pretending to be soldiers for two hours. Bogart's self-defined mission in SAHARA is easy to comprehend; Pitt's orders in FURY are murky at best. SAHARA ends with unconditional German surrender (just like what happened in real life). FURY closes with the victorious Nazis marching away whistling, like SNOW WHITE's SEVEN DWARFS. If FURY made you furious, it's time to salute a superior SAHARA.

In June 1942, American Sgt. Joe Gunn (Humphrey Bogart) leads his tank crew in a battle alongside the British 8th Army. They're ordered to retreat with the Germans closing in on three sides. They fix up their M3 Lee tank and head south. Along the way, they pick up some stragglers, fend off the Germans, and even get POWs. The biggest threat however is the lack of water. The German forces are also in dire need for water.This is a fine propaganda war movie made at the height of WWII. Most of the Allie countries are well represented. They even have a colonial Sudanese to show the Nazi's racism. The Italian prisoner gives voice to the hope that the Italians are a reluctant axis power. The German prisoner is the typical evil Nazi. Their tank is contemporary for the actual battle. Of course, they don't have German equipment but the movie doesn't suffer for it. Bogie is a great Hollywood star and he's the perfect lead for this. The battle is a little bit static but they do have lots of action.

Zoltan Korda directed this WWII film that stars Humphrey Bogart as Sergeant Joe Gunn(great name!) a tank commander in charge of a diverse group of mixed nationalities making their way across the hot, barren, and bleak North African desert of the Sahara, trying to reunite with the main American force and stay alive in the process, since cool, fresh water is vital, and more valuable than gold. Bruce Bennett, Lloyd Bridges, J. Carol Naish, Rex Ingram, and Dan Duraya costar. Well-directed film really captures the atmosphere of its time and place well, and makes the viewer feel the dryness of the Sahara(though filmed in California) and sympathize with their plight. Good acting as well.

... but it's still well worth a look. This is one of the Bogie titles that tends to slip under the wire when they're issuing boxed sets or holding retrospectives. He made it after Casablanca and in some ways - it lacks completely the gloss and sub-plot content of the former - it could qualify as a throw-back to Bogie's thirties fodder but it is craftsman like - Zoltan Korda was never anything more than a journeyman and a real-life embodiment of the famous Hollywood gag the son-in-law also rises - and had for the time a viable message albeit sophomoric seen today, namely that in times of strife nations should put aside petty squabbles and unite against a common enemy. Bogie turns in a first class performance albeit having to compete with J. Carroll Nash; Bruce Bennet is low-key which is just as well given his limited talent, Lloyd Bridges barely makes it to the third reel and Dan Duryea is all at sea attempting to do 'nice'. Nevertheless it remains highly watchable.