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.

Sea of Sand ( Desert Patrol ) is seldom mentioned in the context of great British war movies but deserves to be since it is an underrated and well acted example of the genre ( and, incidentally, one of my favourite films ). The movie at one and the same time, conforms to the familiar aspects of the genre but also manages to put a 'spin' on them since the subject matter - the experiences of the volunteer Long-Range Desert Squadron who operated independently far behind enemy lines - allows for characters who are more than familiar war-movie stereotypes.

The cast are uniformally excellent, especially veteran character player Percy Herbert whose death scene is extremely moving. Clashes of class, rank and experience are familiar elements from other films of the genre but are here rendered a little more interesting and unpredictable. Director Guy Green never made his mark but on the evidence of Sea of Sand had plenty of talent and was good at getting the most out of his actors. Simple heroics are eschewed - though heroism is at the core of the film's denouement and anyone who derives pleasure from seeing British acting staples like Michael Craig, John Gregson, Richard Attenborough and Percy Herbert have a treat in store.

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.

A nine-man unit of the Long Range Desert Group is told off to drive deep behind German lines and make trouble. They discover the Germans are planning a major offensive and must get the information back to British command. The problem is that the Germans don't want them to.

The LRDG was a British unit founded by Major Ralph Bagnold in Cairo in 1940. It was intended to carry out patrols, reconnaiscence and raids behind Italian lines. It never numbered than about 350 men. Mostly drawn from New Zealanders, with a few Southern Rhodesian and British soldiers, it was disbanded in 1945. Many of its techniques have been used by elite military groups ever since.

With a capable cast, including Richard Attenborough, John Gregson, and Michael Craig, this turns into one of those films in which men heroically sacrifice themselves for the unit, interspersed with them talking about their civilian live to give them some individuality.

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!