Blutige Diamanten

Director William Dieterle did better movies than ROPE OF SAND but he never did one in more unusual settings than in South West Africa, now Namibia. Paul Henreid and Peter Lorre had featured in CASABLANCA seven years earlier, Rains had pulled off one of his best performances in Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS three years earlier, and Lancaster was beginning to make a name for himself. A really good cast for a film that did not seem set for great box office returns.

Interesting to note that apartheid was about to appear in that part of the world, yet it is human greed that dominates the film, with diamonds the commodity most sought.

Acting is generally good, although the French accent hinders Calvet's delivery, even renders it awkward at times. The fighting sequences fall somewhat short of credible. The screenplay is also uneven. Photography is very good.

As a little known film, it deserves watching. And it posts enough quality to not rate a waste of time. 8/10.

A man (Burt Lancaster) abused by a sadistic mining company cop (Paul Henreid) before he could tell where on their desert property he had found diamonds decides to steal them instead.

Glenn Erickson reflected on the background of the film and how it was received when first released, "Although William Dieterle's direction is capable, the script works too hard to introduce an overly familiar collection of stock thriller types ... Critics generally liked Lancaster's performance, even if they slighted the work of Claude Rains and Peter Lorre and saved the bulk of their praise for Paul Henried's nasty villain." Indeed, those who watch the film for Lorre may be disappointed on little screen time he receives.

Reflecting decades later, Burt Lancaster singled this out as his least favorite film. That was due to personal reasons, however, so may not necessarily reflect whether this was (in his opinion) his worst performance.

Rope Of Sand is one of those films that as Burt Lancaster said he did for the poke. It's a routine action/adventure film that some have said is a Casablanca reunion. Also it was Corinne Calvet's first American feature.

But besides Lancaster and Calvet the cast includes Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, and Paul Henreid. Rains is playing his role as a diamond magnate as if Captain Renaud had retired from the army and went to South Africa to make his fortune in diamonds. Rains is the elegant sophisticated head of a diamond cartel and for amusement he likes to manipulate people. Lorre plays a kinder, gentler version of Ugarte I doubt he would murder two German couriers for letters of transit, but he might pick their pockets.

But Paul Henreid is as about as far away from the courageous anti-Nazi freedom fighter Victor Laszlo as you can get. He's the brutal commandant of the diamond police. Yes the Union of South Africa did have such an outfit with police powers to protect one of the country's most valuable resources for the nation and most assuredly for the mine owners. You'll see this also in Sands Of The Kalahari and Gold, both films set in apartheid South Africa as this was.

Lancaster plays a guide who finds a cache of diamonds and gets a beating at the hands of Henreid and his storm troopers. Rains would like to get his hands on the diamonds also and cut Henreid out as he personally can't stand him, but he's useful on occasion. After Calvet who plays a prostitute tries the old badger game on him unsuccessfully Rains hires her to work on Lancaster to divulge his secret. She also goes to work on Henreid as well.

But as what usually happens Burt's charming ways get to her all leading to an inevitable climax about her and the diamonds.

The title Rope Of Sand refers to the desert surrounding where the diamond mines are. It's a decent enough action adventure film made more enjoyable by a great cast of the best supporting players around.

This film is hard to find, but i finally got hold of a decent copy off ebay.co.uk recorded off a satellite channel. I'm glad i finally got to see it, it was very entertaining with numerous plot twists. The quartet of Lancaster, Rains, Henreid and Lorre make great viewing as they try and scene steal off each other at every turn. Claude Rains is smooth, silky and delightfully devious; Lancaster hulks, sulks and looms superbly. There is no discernible chemistry between Lancaster and the 'new' (well to US audiences) Corinne Calvert; which weakens their characters' motivation somewhat. Lancaster seems more in love with himself though, so tough competition for Corinne there. Calvert does a creditable turn here, ( though her French accent can be a little opaque), but she is outclassed easily by the men- Rains wipes the floor with her but she is stunning and exotic enough. Though her final clinch with Lancaster on the ship as they leave the desert hellhole that they've been inhabiting for the last hour and a half, is incredibly drippy and Lancaster looks as if he'd like shot of her big time. But that's the dialogue for you. Henreid is suitably nasty and sadistic and you can almost smell the sweat and feel the heat- so there is much to recommend in Rope of Sand.

Rope of Sand, an adventure thriller supposedly set in post-WW II South Africa, certainly receives the vote of "classic" in my book. Far away places, a romance triangle, suspense, even a bit of humor at times...it's all there in a neatly executed, well-acted plot that makes you wish YOU could have been there and tried just what Burt Lancaster did. I have watched this movie more than half a dozen times over the years and still get that sense of intrigue and mystery and fascination with the setting and story that I got on the first occasion, as a child. The film noir era was coming to a close when this movie was created in 1949 but most of the crucial elements are there including use of the black and white, music score, contrasting dialog and action scenes, and so on, right up to the final scene. Perhaps the screenplay might have gotten a little more mileage out of Corrine Calvet and Burt but we need to remember that we're judging films of this era against a different yardstick. I seriously don't think that this movie would have come together at all using actors working today because they would all be hungering for a bigger piece of the movie than anyone got here or typically does get in film noir. This is not to mention what current directors typically do as a substitute for what film noir did with the camera and timing of scene combinations. So I disagree with the previous reviewer. Watch this if you can and enjoy!