Sahara war movie

Sahara (1943, United States)

Categories: desert movies infantry movies last stand movies siege movies tank movies

Sahara

Director: Zoltan Korda

Czas: 95 minut

Laguages: English

war movies infoAdam 'Frey' Barczynski
2024-04-07 / 1970-01-01

American M3 tank crew members, stranded in the middle of Sahara desert, find themselves surrounded by German battalion trying to get to the only water supply in the area.

American M3 Lee tank called Lulubelle is the last survivor in desert battle somewhere in North Africa. Under bombardment Sergeant Joe Gunn tries to fix the engine, so they can retreat, but it seems for them there is only way out of this situation - due south, straight into the vast emptiness of Sahara desert. Soon they meet survivors of British field hospital - Captain Halliday and few infantry men. Halliday asks Gunn to take them with him, since left here alone they would die. Now M3 is packed with people and heads towards the desert. They spot a British colonial soldier escorting an Italian prisoner, which is a bit of luck for them since Tambul, the Sudanese sergeant, is well oriented in the desert and can lead them to an oasis, where they could get water. With limited supplies Gunn decides to leave the Italian prisoner behind with only small amount of water and a tin of food. Giuseppe begs them not to leave him, but Gunn see no other option - they have not enough water for one more traveller. Nevertheless Italian runs behind the tank and finally Gunn changes his mind and take him on board. On the route they are attacked by German fighter, who shoots at them and wound one of the British. They take the pilot of crashed plane as a prisoner. When their fuel supply is running low they arrive to the oasis Tambul was leading them to, but soon they discover that the well is dry. Sudanese manages to spot a tiny little leak of water between the rocks, so they decide to stay here and slowly collect water. Before they have enough water German patrol arrives and Gunn learns that there is whole Nazi battalion heading towards oasis badly requiring water supply.

Classic war movie starring Humphrey Bogart, the story is adapted from Russian movie ’The Thirteen’ from 1937. Filmed during World War 2 Sahara has some inconsistencies in the storyline - the beginning is set after Tobruk has fallen (June 1942), few months before American forces arrived in North Africa (Operation Torch, November 1942), the ending takes place during the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1942), which would mean that the crew of Lulubelle spent over a month in the desert. Nevertheless when it comes to drama it is great movie, with very good cast, some bits of propaganda (afterall it was filmed in 1943), but definitely not one to be missed.

Our rating

7.2

Film value

8 / 10

Realism factor

3 / 5

Adventure factor

5 / 5

Historical accuracy

2 / 5

2024-04-07

Sahara full movie

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