Sea of Sand

SEA OF SAND is, unsurprisingly, another North African WW2 movie. Although they made literally dozens of such productions over the years, I never get tired of them as they have such great backdrops against which to present war-time action. This one's a very typical piece from the period, filled with a kind of brisk efficiency which goes hand-in-hand with the no-nonsense British cast.

The story follows the misadventures of a team of British soldiers sent behind enemy lines to blow up a fuel depot. They end discovering a massive depot of tanks ready to strike against Allied forces and, with their radio out, they must return to their own side to spread word of their discovery. The only problem is that the Nazi forces are well aware of this, sending soldiers out in pursuit.

SEA OF SAND is an admirably tough movie. There's little room for sentiment here, just necessity of getting the job done. The ensemble cast is fine with Michael Craig and John Gregson particularly standing out and more minor parts for the likes of Richard Attenborough (surprisingly underutilised in a comic part), Barry Foster, Ray McAnally, and Percy Herbert. I was delighted to spot an uncredited Dermot Walsh playing the guy who sends the team on their mission. It's solid stuff, at times exciting, heroic, tragic, and harrowing.

Recently saw this on TV. I tuned in on a whim and was delighted I did. It features a really good line up of mid 50's talent and some lustrous black and white photography. It seemed to me a forerunner of the later "mission" movies which became the norm for WW2 films in the following decade.

There were a couple of hard hitting -for the time- action sequences, which were crisply filmed and edited. There was a smattering of officers v men tension, mostly supplied by Attenborough in his cheeky chappy guise. And a fantastic sequence of a lone British soldier waiting by his machine gun for German half-tracks to appear over the crest of the dunes.

My only slight problem with the film is the heroic display by one of the officers towards the end. It felt like a throwback to earlier, more genteel values, not in keeping with the tone of the rest of the piece. Apart from that, well worth a look. Would make an good double bill with De Toth's later Play Dirty.

Excellent acting. Tight script. Good cast. Good range of characters. Humour in the face of adversity. Germans speaking German! Plenty of realistic action. Long film but far from boring!

A squadron of hardy soldiers working on infiltration, enduring the searing heat of the WWII North Africa campaign, are despatched to blow up a fuel dump deep behind enemy lines. It's only when they reach the location they discover something way more perilous than petrol, and so much race back to HQ - with the Nazis hot on their trail - to inform their superiors of this potentially game-changing information. It's quite a familiar looking story that goes some way to depicting the harshness of desert warfare and of the gritty determination of those men sent to fight and survive in this most hostile of global environments. Richard Attenborough nominally heads up a cast of reliable British stalwarts including Michael Craig, John Gregson and the always dependable Percy Herbert and the Libyan photography adds an extra authenticity to the ghastliness and tenaciousness of their struggle. Like many films made some time after the war, it has less of a propagandist element to it and so the plot doesn't shy away from tragedy which, again, lends plausibility to their travails as they struggle to cross the sand. Guy Green has used his cast and the location well here - it is at times an uncomfortable watch and that adds to it's character. Well worth a watch if you get a chance.

A British war film; A story about a patrol raid made by the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) during the North African Campaign in the Second World War. This is a film which captures the remoteness of the conflict and the boredom for the soldiers involved. It also depicts how British soldiers went out on a limb deep behind enemy lines to fight Rommel's Afrika Korps with all its risk and danger. While the screenplay is predictable and it is a routine war adventure, the dialogue is natural and the various characters are well drawn. As an aside, it has some excellent acting which led to a BAFTA nomination for the lead actor, as well as a nomination for Best Picture for the producer.