Sahara

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Buy This Item Sahara by Sony Pictures  Available from Amazon  $19.98  on 11-16-2008     Hollywood made few movies about the desert conflict during World War II--and curiously, two that they did (<I>Five Graves to Cairo</I> is the other) were remakes of films set elsewhere. John Howard Lawson based his script on a prewar Russian film (Lawson would later be blacklisted, incidentally) about a military patrol besieged by Asian bandits. The situation readily lent itself to a wartime parallel and became one of the most engrossing story lines of its era. <p> A U.S. tank crew and their commander (Humphrey Bogart), separated from the main force, make their way through the desert, accumulating a veritable United Nations of stragglers as they go: a few of Montgomery's tommies (including that old limey Lloyd Bridges) and a towering African (Rex Ingram) and his prisoner--a garrulous Italian (Oscar-nominated J. Carrol Naish) who can't wait to tell his new friends about his relatives in "Peets-a-bourg Pennsylvania." They come upon a ruin, the onetime site of an oasis, and almost immediately find themselves defending it against a small army of Germans who believe there's still water to be had there. Yes and no--there's a biblical wrinkle to this tale--and the standoff between the polyglot democrats and the Nazis who far outnumber them is a fine, sun-baked study in suspense. <p> For Bogart, this Columbia picture was a rare furlough from Warner Bros., where he always felt embattled. His pleasure must have seeped into his work, because Sgt. Joe Gunn is one of the most sympathetic and heartfelt characterizations the actor ever gave us. This is one <I>good</I> movie. <I>--Richard T. Jameson</I> Reader Reviews Terrific wartime drama about a tank unit and a handful of Allied soliders holding off a battalion of Africa Korps at a small well. Keen action sequences, naughty Germans, stoic Yanks and Brits and bring a canteen as this will make you thirsty. Plenty of classic Bogie lines, very nice cast and acting. Check it out.

Sahara Available from Amazon Price: $19.98 Updated on 11-16-2008.

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