The Rats of Tobruk

This film turned up very unexpectedly on one of our free view film channels.It contains most of the elements that you expect from a World War 2 film.A fair amount of newsreel film is used there is rather too much comedy.The barber,played by George Wallace,a popular vaudevillian there is a strange character played by Joe Valli who reminds me of Frank Randle.Interesting to see a young Chips Rafferty and an eve younger Peter Finch.Made in 1944 it was not released in the UK till 1949.

In the real world, WWII was starting to show signs of ending and this morale-booster serves to urge that final push from the Allies to sustain that effort for just a little longer. That message is condensed into the story of three friends from Australia who have found themselves posted to fight in the desert defending Tobruk from the unstoppable Afrika Korps of Rommel. It plays a little to stereotype with the two Aussies - "Bluey" (Grant Taylor) and "Milo" (Chips Rafferty) being the typical lively, irreverent and feisty personalities whilst the plucky Brit amongst their trio is the more reserved and intellectual "Peter" (Peter Finch) and it's their differences that both entertain us and compel them to sportingly work together to endure and to thwart the encroaching forces that significantly outnumber and outgun them. Luckily, given they have to hold their positions for as long as possible to protect Egypt, their general has a plan to lure the enemy tanks into an awaiting artillery barrage whilst these men, and hundreds like them, take care of the supporting infantry using machine guns, rifles and miles of barbed wire. I thought there was a fine degree of chemistry between the three here and once the wartime photography takes over the story towards the last fifteen minutes, we get a sense of the grimness of desert warfare with shortages of food, water, ammunition and personell all weighing down in these battle-weary and disorientated soldiers. The message of perseverance is clear, but so is one of collaboration and all being in it together as the history unfolds. There are plenty of stories around about Tobruk and it's siege, and this one brings an Australian perspective to remind us that those from what was still the last vestiges of Empire were strenuously doing their bit, too.

This film clocked in at just 68 minutes on its US release in 1951, and you can guest what got cut as you wade through the amateurish indoor dialogue scenes and unfunny comedy relief between the occasional bursts of action (and finally the short segment set in New Guinea evidently added at the last minute to bring the story up to date).

I love this movie mainly because it tells the story of brave soldiers fighting for their country. Chips Rafferty, Grant Taylor and Peter Finch play three Australian cattle drovers. When the war starts they all join up. It shows that soldiers are really ordinary people until a war starts and once they join up they become heroes. I always laugh at George Wallace as he plays the comic relief. Its definitely worth seeing i managed to track down what I am convinced is the only copy left in existence. If you ever see a copy buy it.

Trying to watch "The Rats of Tobruk" at Kanopy, the library service, I was often frustrated by the too-dark print and by the frequent sound errors.

I don't like war movies anyway, and this one did what I expect from a war movie: It showed the sheer insanity of war, and how, as usual, the people in charge, meaning governments and their component politicians, manage to get people killed for pretty much no reason.

Yes, this was made in 1944, getting on toward the end of World War II, but I did expect higher quality. The Brits made good movies during the war, and they were often directly under attack.

Still, everything considered, I can recommend "The Rats of Tobruk" as an interesting experience: It's an Australian movie, which in my opinion we don't see enough of here in these United States.