A nice surprise."Sahara" is a Zoltan Korda directed war film that centres on a single tank cut off from the rest of the regiment and making its way across the desert of the title with two prisoners, A German and an Italian, on board. In this respect it's a little like the later "Ice Cold in Alex". Humphrey Bogart is the tough American sergeant in charge and others in the all-male cast include Dan Duryea, Bruce Bennett, Lloyd Bridges and Rex Ingram. The prisoners are Kurt Kreuger and an Oscar-nominated J Carrol Naish. Superbly photographed, too, by Rudolph Mate, also an Oscar nominee for his work here. Not often revived but worth seeking out.

This film takes re-writing history to new levels.This film is set after the Fall of Tobruk, June 1942. However, there were no American forces in Africa AT ALL until the Operation Torch landings in Morocco / Algeria in November 1942.I can only imagine it was designed as a feel-good film for American home consumption, since I can't believe British or Commonwealth audiences at the time (i.e. around about the time the confident yet green American forces were routed by the Germans at Sidi Bou Zid and Kasserine Pass) would have been pleased to hear about how an American sergeant usurped the authority of a British captain & led his tiny band to a glorious victory against superior German forces.But then, when did Hollywood ever let the truth get in the way of a 'good' story?

One of Bogie's films for Columbia Pictures is a real winner: a WWII film about a trio of Americans, a gaggle of British, a British Sudanese, a "Frenchie", and an Italian and German prisoners of war all riding on top of and inside a lone US tank Bogie's Sgt Gunn across North Africa as the Nazis take Tobruk. Needing to find water, the Sudanese (a wonderful Rex Ingram) knows of wells to the South (which is the only direction not taken by or surrounded by German forces), and Gunn follows his directions, eventually finding Bir Acroma, a temple with a man-made well with just enough water to keep them all from starving. As a regimen of Nazis (and a guide) are on their way, desperate for water, Gunn learns from a couple of soldiers real thirsty that about 500 men are in a mechanized battalion heading their way. Sending the Germans on their way with a fake proposition over trading food for water, Gunn and company (except for the Nazi captive who actually knows English) plan to fight the battalion, using the Bir Acroma as their outpost. Can they keep them at bay, while Gunn's fellow soldier, Waco (Bruce Bennett) drives off for potential ally reinforcements?An exotic setting (director Korda knows how to direct adventure films as evident by the excellent Four Feathers and popular Jungle Book) with the desert looking mighty treacherous and the windy sand storms quite overbearing. Add the tension of encroaching Germans with more men, limited water, and tiring wait for the hopes of help on the horizon, "Sahara" is the perfect kind of war film to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. The weaponry is as limited as the water, and the film shows Gunn and his small squadron doing all they can to battle the enemy with everything they have.Memorable scenes include a marvelous J Carrol Naish standing up to Kurt Kreuger's nasty Nazi about his people's misfortune and his stand against what Hitler is all about and the soldiers who fall for his madness & Rex's Tambul smothering Kurt's face in the sand. The lengthy standoff at the end at Bir Acroma, with forces from both sides dwindling, has a lot of likable characters (including terrific character actor Dan Duryea as Gunn's other American soldier, Richard Nugent as the British captain, and Louis T Mercier as the lone French soldier who had worked for the French Resistance, having seen those he knew in Occupied France perish at the hands of the Nazis, with Patrick O'Moore as a British soldier and Lloyd Bridges in a bit part as the first casualty on the desert trip) involved in the gunfire and shootout. Rex's scene with Bennett as they talk wives while inside the well is a nicely warm moment where two men from different worlds find common ground...their comraderie is nifty. Duryea and Bennett's betting is a source of amusement as well...particularly when they bet on the decisions Gunn will make. Naish's begging to come with the tank crew and Bogie's deciding to allow him to join them is a real dramatic highpoint. Here is where Naish proves that he's more than some B-movie minor talent. Naish deserves to be re-evaluated by buffs, in my opinion.The sacrifices of war is nothing new in films like Sahara, as men risk it all to represent what they believe in: freedom. Kreuger's Nazi is an appropriate villain and despicable symbol of Hitler, in a plane shooting at Gunn's Loulabelle (name of his tank after his beloved horse!) before they shoot him down. Tambul's Sudan soldier is a key figure in the film, his black skin repulsive to the Nazi, with it only fitting that he kills Kreuger, dying a hero in the process as the Germans fire at him with heavy artillery. Bogart's stalwart, courageous hero, speechifying the danger of their stand against the Germans but why it is important to do so, is a joy to watch for me personally. But the whole cast behind him is first rate.

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.