La moschea nel deserto

Our protagonists meet at a gin joint located in North Africa. With some jaunty piano music playing in the background, they trade lines. It might remind you of another film starring Bogie.

The local police authority tries to intervene in the plot, working from his noirish office, where a desk fan casts long shadows.

The female lead, played by Mala Powers, sports an accent and some resemblance to Ingrid Bergman.

Eventually, the action moves from its Casablanca-like setting to the middle of the vast desert, where an old mosque is being swallowed by the sands next to a small oasis. It's treasure they seek.

Greed drives this vehicle about selfishness and sacrifice and what might even be love. The "action", if we can call it that, is sparse. The actors are less than compelling. And the plot of this second feature offers no one you might consider a hero.

If you can accept the fact that Victor McLaglen is running an Irish Pub in Bengazi, Libya during the post World War II years, you'll swallow anything. Other than the fact that alcohol is forbidden to Moslems, I'm sure he's doing a great business.

He and Richard Conte hear of a proposition from escaped convict Richard Erdman about some treasure buried in a mosque in the middle of the desert, they take off looking for it. Of course at the same time, Scottish police inspector Richard Carlson and McLaglen's daughter Mala Powers also go looking for them.

They all wind up with a lot of angry Bedouins shooting at them. I mean they are trying to rob the tribe. How rude of the Bedouins to object.

Bengazi played the bottom half of double bills when it came out and I'm sure the audience was praying for the main feature to start.