Sahara (1943 film)
Encyclopedia
Sahara is a 1943 war film
directed by Zoltán Korda
. Humphrey Bogart
stars as a U.S. tank commander in Libya
during the Western Desert Campaign
of World War II
. The movie earned three Academy Award
nominations: Best Sound (John Livadary), Best Cinematography (Black-and-White) and Best Supporting Actor
by J. Carrol Naish
for his role as an Italian prisoner.
The story is credited to an incident depicted in the 1936 Soviet
film The Thirteen by Mikhail Romm
. Later, Sahara was remade by Andre de Toth
as a Western with Broderick Crawford
called Last of the Comanches (1953) and by Brian Trenchard-Smith
as the Australian film Sahara
, with James Belushi
in Bogart's role.
tank, commanded by U.S. Army Master Sergeant
Joe Gunn (Humphrey Bogart
) and nicknamed Lulu Belle, become separated from their unit during a general retreat from Erwin Rommel
's forces. At a bombed-out field hospital
, the Americans pick up a motley collection of stragglers, among them British doctor Captain Halliday, four Commonwealth troops, and Free French Corporal Leroux (Louis Mercier). Halliday, the only officer, cedes command to Gunn. Later, they come upon Sudanese
Sergeant Major Tambul (Rex Ingram
) and his Italian
prisoner, Giuseppe (J. Carrol Naish
), who volunteers to lead them to a well at Hassan Barani. En route, Luftwaffe
pilot Captain von Schletow (Kurt Kreuger
) strafes the tank, killing one of the British soldiers (Lloyd Bridges
), but is shot down and captured.
Arriving at the well, they find it completely dry. Now running out of water, they are forced to detour to the desert well Bir Acroma marked on Gunn's map. They find it, but it is almost dry, providing only a trickle of water.
When German
scouts arrive in a half-track
soon afterwards, Gunn sets up an ambush. Gunn finds out from one of the two enemy survivors that their mechanized battalion
, desperate for water, is following close behind. He persuades the others to make a stand to delay the Germans, while Waco (Bruce Bennett
) takes the half-track in search of reinforcements. The two Germans are released to carry back an offer: "food for water", even though there is barely enough for Gunn's men. When the Germans return in force, Gunn changes the deal to "guns for water".
The well has completely dried up by then. A standoff and battle of wills begins between Gunn and Major von Falken (John Wengraf
), the German commander. Gunn keeps up the pretence that the well is full of water and negotiates to buy time. Eventually, the Germans attack and are beaten off again and again, but one by one, the defenders are killed. During the fighting, von Schletow tries to escape, killing Giuseppe when he tries to alert Gunn. Tambul chases him down and kills him, at the cost of his own life.
The thirst-maddened Germans' final assault turns into a full-blown surrender as they drop their weapons and claw across the sand towards the well. To Gunn's shock, he discovers that a German shell that exploded in the well has tapped into a source of water. Gunn and the only other Allied survivor disarm the Germans while they drink their fill. As they are marching their prisoners east, they encounter Allied troops guided by Waco. The movie ends with news of the Allied victory at the First Battle of El Alamein
, turning back the tide of Rommel's Afrika Korps
.
, near the Salton Sea
, using soldiers and equipment of the U.S. IV Armored Corps, then in training, as extras.
In 1992, Kurt Kreuger
was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle
on the emotions inherent in making the film, in which he portrayed a stereotypical Nazi:
British, French, South African and Sudanese:
Axis:
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
directed by Zoltán Korda
Zoltán Korda
Zoltan Korda was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer.Born Zoltán Kellner, Kellner Zoltán in Hungarian name order, of Jewish heritage in Pusztatúrpásztó, Túrkeve in Hungary , he was the middle brother of filmmakers Alexander and Vincent Korda.Zoltan Korda went to...
. Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
stars as a U.S. tank commander in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
during the Western Desert Campaign
Western Desert Campaign
The Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War, was the initial stage of the North African Campaign during the Second World War. The campaign was heavily influenced by the availability of supplies and transport. The ability of the Allied forces, operating from besieged Malta, to...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The movie earned three Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nominations: Best Sound (John Livadary), Best Cinematography (Black-and-White) and Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
by J. Carrol Naish
J. Carrol Naish
Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish was an American character actor born in New York City. Naish was twice nominated for an Academy Award for film roles, and he later found fame in the title role of CBS Radio's Life With Luigi , which was also on CBS Television .Naish appeared on stage for several years...
for his role as an Italian prisoner.
The story is credited to an incident depicted in the 1936 Soviet
Cinema of the Soviet Union
The cinema of the Soviet Union, not to be confused with "Cinema of Russia" despite Russian language films being predominant in both genres, includes several film contributions of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history,...
film The Thirteen by Mikhail Romm
Mikhail Romm
Mikhail Ilych Romm was a Soviet film director.He was born in Irkutsk. His father was a social democrat of Jewish descent who had been exiled there. He graduated from gymnasium in 1917 and entered the Moscow College for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture...
. Later, Sahara was remade by Andre de Toth
André De Toth
André de Toth was a Hungarian-American filmmaker, born and raised in Makó, Csongrád, Kingdom of Hungary Austro-Hungarian Empire. He directed the 3-D film House of Wax, despite being unable to see in 3-D himself, having lost an eye at an early age. He is known for his gritty B movies in the western...
as a Western with Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...
called Last of the Comanches (1953) and by Brian Trenchard-Smith
Brian Trenchard-Smith
Brian Trenchard-Smith is an English film and television director, producer, writer, consultant and actor who is notable for his contributions to the horror and action genre during the 1970s and 1980s in Australia. Most of his work has been in television, and the majority of his films have been...
as the Australian film Sahara
Sahara (1995 film)
Sahara is a 1995 American war film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith. The film stars James Belushi, Alan David Lee and Simon Westaway. This film is a remake of the 1943 film Sahara and was film on location in Australia....
, with James Belushi
James Belushi
James Adam "Jim" Belushi is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is the younger brother of comic actor John Belushi.-Early life:Belushi was born in Chicago...
in Bogart's role.
Plot
The crew of an M3 LeeM3 Lee
The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.Design commenced...
tank, commanded by U.S. Army Master Sergeant
Master Sergeant
A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in some armed forces.-Israel Defense Forces:Rav samal rishoninsignia IDF...
Joe Gunn (Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
) and nicknamed Lulu Belle, become separated from their unit during a general retreat from Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
's forces. At a bombed-out field hospital
Field hospital
A field hospital is a large mobile medical unit that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities...
, the Americans pick up a motley collection of stragglers, among them British doctor Captain Halliday, four Commonwealth troops, and Free French Corporal Leroux (Louis Mercier). Halliday, the only officer, cedes command to Gunn. Later, they come upon Sudanese
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan referred to the manner by which Sudan was administered between 1899 and 1956, when it was a condominium of Egypt and the United Kingdom.-Union with Egypt:...
Sergeant Major Tambul (Rex Ingram
Rex Ingram (actor)
Rex Ingram was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Early life and career:Born near Cairo, Illinois on the Mississippi River, Ingram's father was a steamer fireman on the riverboat Robert E. Lee...
) and his Italian
Fascist Italy
"Fascist Italy" refers to Italy under the rule of Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism. The Fascists led two polities:*The Kingdom of Italy , under the National Fascist Party, and,...
prisoner, Giuseppe (J. Carrol Naish
J. Carrol Naish
Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish was an American character actor born in New York City. Naish was twice nominated for an Academy Award for film roles, and he later found fame in the title role of CBS Radio's Life With Luigi , which was also on CBS Television .Naish appeared on stage for several years...
), who volunteers to lead them to a well at Hassan Barani. En route, Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
pilot Captain von Schletow (Kurt Kreuger
Kurt Kreuger
Kurt Kreuger was a Swiss-reared German actor. Kreuger once was the third most requested male actor at 20th Century Fox. He starred with, among others, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart.-Life and career:...
) strafes the tank, killing one of the British soldiers (Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
), but is shot down and captured.
Arriving at the well, they find it completely dry. Now running out of water, they are forced to detour to the desert well Bir Acroma marked on Gunn's map. They find it, but it is almost dry, providing only a trickle of water.
When German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
scouts arrive in a half-track
Half-track
A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels on the front for steering, and caterpillar tracks on the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. The purpose of this combination is to produce a vehicle with the cross-country capabilities of a tank and the handling...
soon afterwards, Gunn sets up an ambush. Gunn finds out from one of the two enemy survivors that their mechanized battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
, desperate for water, is following close behind. He persuades the others to make a stand to delay the Germans, while Waco (Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett was an American actor and Olympic silver medalist shot putter. During the 1930s, he went by his real name, Herman Brix .-Early life and Olympics:...
) takes the half-track in search of reinforcements. The two Germans are released to carry back an offer: "food for water", even though there is barely enough for Gunn's men. When the Germans return in force, Gunn changes the deal to "guns for water".
The well has completely dried up by then. A standoff and battle of wills begins between Gunn and Major von Falken (John Wengraf
John Wengraf
John Wengraf was an Austrian actor.Wengraf emigrated to England in 1933 as the Nazis began their rise to power. Wengraf appeared unbilled in a couple of films, as well as in some of the first BBC live-television shows ever presented...
), the German commander. Gunn keeps up the pretence that the well is full of water and negotiates to buy time. Eventually, the Germans attack and are beaten off again and again, but one by one, the defenders are killed. During the fighting, von Schletow tries to escape, killing Giuseppe when he tries to alert Gunn. Tambul chases him down and kills him, at the cost of his own life.
The thirst-maddened Germans' final assault turns into a full-blown surrender as they drop their weapons and claw across the sand towards the well. To Gunn's shock, he discovers that a German shell that exploded in the well has tapped into a source of water. Gunn and the only other Allied survivor disarm the Germans while they drink their fill. As they are marching their prisoners east, they encounter Allied troops guided by Waco. The movie ends with news of the Allied victory at the First Battle of El Alamein
First Battle of El Alamein
The First Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought between Axis forces of the Panzer Army Africa commanded by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Allied forces The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert...
, turning back the tide of Rommel's Afrika Korps
Afrika Korps
The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
.
Production notes
The movie was filmed on location in the Imperial County portion of the Anza-Borrego Desert State ParkAnza-Borrego Desert State Park
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a state park located within the Colorado Desert of Southern California. The park takes its name from 18th century, Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and borrego, the Spanish word for bighorn sheep...
, near the Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
, using soldiers and equipment of the U.S. IV Armored Corps, then in training, as extras.
In 1992, Kurt Kreuger
Kurt Kreuger
Kurt Kreuger was a Swiss-reared German actor. Kreuger once was the third most requested male actor at 20th Century Fox. He starred with, among others, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart.-Life and career:...
was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
on the emotions inherent in making the film, in which he portrayed a stereotypical Nazi:
I was running across the dunes when Tambul jumped on top of me and pressed my head into the sand to suffocate me. Only Zoltán forgot to yell cut, and Ingram was so emotionally caught up in the scene that he kept pressing my face harder and harder.
Finally, I went unconscious. Nobody knew this. Even the crew was transfixed, watching this dramatic ‘killing.' If Zoltán hadn't finally said cut, as an afterthought, it would have been all over for me.
Cast
Americans:- Sergeant Joe Gunn - Humphrey BogartHumphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
- Jimmy Doyle - Dan DuryeaDan DuryeaDan Duryea was an American actor, known for roles in film, stage and television.-Early life:Born and raised in White Plains, New York, Duryea graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1924 and Cornell University in 1928. While at Cornell, Duryea was elected into the Sphinx Head Society...
- 'Waco' Hoyt - Bruce BennettBruce BennettBruce Bennett was an American actor and Olympic silver medalist shot putter. During the 1930s, he went by his real name, Herman Brix .-Early life and Olympics:...
- Tank Driver (Lulubelle) - Antonio "Tony" Odello (not shown on screen)
British, French, South African and Sudanese:
- Captain Jason Halliday - Richard Nugent
- Fred Clarkson - Lloyd BridgesLloyd BridgesLloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
- Osmond 'Ozzie' Bates - Patrick O'Moore
- Peter Stegman - Guy Kingsford
- Marty Williams - Carl Harbord
- Jean 'Frenchie' Leroux - Louis Mercier
- Sergeant Major Tambul - Rex IngramRex Ingram (actor)Rex Ingram was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Early life and career:Born near Cairo, Illinois on the Mississippi River, Ingram's father was a steamer fireman on the riverboat Robert E. Lee...
Axis:
- Giuseppe - J. Carrol NaishJ. Carrol NaishJoseph Patrick Carrol Naish was an American character actor born in New York City. Naish was twice nominated for an Academy Award for film roles, and he later found fame in the title role of CBS Radio's Life With Luigi , which was also on CBS Television .Naish appeared on stage for several years...
- Captain von Schletow - Kurt KreugerKurt KreugerKurt Kreuger was a Swiss-reared German actor. Kreuger once was the third most requested male actor at 20th Century Fox. He starred with, among others, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart.-Life and career:...
- Major von Falken - John WengrafJohn WengrafJohn Wengraf was an Austrian actor.Wengraf emigrated to England in 1933 as the Nazis began their rise to power. Wengraf appeared unbilled in a couple of films, as well as in some of the first BBC live-television shows ever presented...