Sahara

1943
PG
1h 37m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

10K

YOUR RATING

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34 Photos

Action Drama War

After the fall of Tobruk in 1942, during the Allied retreat in the Libyan desert, an American tank picks-up a motley group of survivors but they face advancing Germans and a lack of water.After the fall of Tobruk in 1942, during the Allied retreat in the Libyan desert, an American tank picks-up a motley group of survivors but they face advancing Germans and a lack of water.After the fall of Tobruk in 1942, during the Allied retreat in the Libyan desert, an American tank picks-up a motley group of survivors but they face advancing Germans and a lack of water.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

10K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 3 nominations total

Soldier
(uncredited)

Niels Bagge

German Private
(uncredited)

Walter Bonn

Soldier
(uncredited)

Frederic Brunn

German Private
(uncredited)

Leslie Denison

British Soldier
(uncredited)

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Kurt Kreuger said that in the scene where he tried to escape back to his lines with the Sudanese sergeant (Rex Ingram) in pursuit, Ingram caught him and pressed his face into the sand to kill him, Kreuger almost passed out due to lack of air.

Goofs
All of the German vehicles are emblazoned with Nazi Party swastikas rather than the Balkenkreuz, the straight-armed cross that was the emblem of the Wehrmacht used on their vehicles during WWII.

Quotes
Giuseppe: Mussolini is not so clever like Hitler, he can dress his Italians up only to look like thieves, cheats, murderers, he cannot like Hitler, make them feel like that. He cannot, like Hitler, scrape from the conscience the knowledge that right is right and wrong is wrong, or dig holes in their heads to plant his own ten commandments: steal from thy neighbor, cheat thy neighbor, kill thy neighbor.
Capt. von Schletow: You dare to insult the Führer?
Giuseppe: That would take an artiste - I am but a mechanic.

Crazy credits
Opening credits prologue: In June, 1942, a small detachment of American tanks with American crews, joined the British Eighth Army in North Africa to get experience in desert warfare under actual battle conditions.

History has proved that they learned their lesson well - -

Connections
Featured in Going Hollywood: The War Years (1988)

Soundtracks
Oh! Susanna
(uncredited)
Music by Stephen Foster
Played on the harmonica by Patrick O'Moore.

User reviews105

Review

Featured review

6/10

Man and Tank

The great thing when Sahara opens is Bogart's relationship with his tank. Maybe he's been in the desert too long! But he's fairly explicit in his attitude, and can't talk about his tank without likening it to a girlfriend. He says that that the sound it makes is sweeter than anything any woman can say. Five minutes later he runs into an uppity British officer in the dunes, who disparages his tank - and Bogart gets quite upset. In one of his few displays of aggression in the film Bogart defends his tank's honour. The others fight for their causes yes but the only bait Bogart will rise to is another man disrespecting his Lady Tank.

Meanwhile there is a play of nations going on around Bogart. The Nazi is arrogant and won't be touched by the Sudanese. There is a vengeful little Frenchman and a comic Italian for pathos (his name is even Guiseppe). The British display constant pluck. Now the tank is carrying so many men, that it has become a mother figure, and 45 minutes in it's already "old girl".

It's a greatly entertaining film, and it's fun watching Bogart negotiate, strong arm and wisecrack his way to glory. I think Bogart served the Allies just fine by shooting not overly propagandist movies like this. The ghostly German army, struggling forward for thirst, is a great image to finish on.