La Caravane du désert

In this film, Paul Robeson is Jericho, a black soldier who is condemned to die after accidently killing a superior officer whilst carrying out a heroic feat in rescuing fellow black soldiers trapped aboard the same ship that has been torpedoed. The army has no sympathy and he gets an unfair punishment. He has an ally in Henry Wilcoxon (Captain Mack) who allows him one last moment of freedom to attend a concert whereupon he escapes. Wilcoxon is held responsible and gets 5 years in jail. On his release, he is determined to seek out Robeson and arrest him so he can clear his name.

The film has a different setting as we find ourselves in the African desert following a salt caravan. It's basically a camel train of around 20,000.00 camels where different tribes meet up for a market place trading in salt. There are warring factions within these tribes and it's educational. I knew nothing about these salt caravans. I just thought a caravan was a dodgy home on wheels. No, this is the original caravan idea.

It is nice to see a black actor in a mainstream lead role - I can't think of any other film from this period that does this. It is a bit forced, though when Robeson says to his white desert companion "Look after the camels, boy" without any hint of humour. That's just tacky, I'm afraid - not revolutionary. It can be seen as petty racism that is what the film is trying to fight against. Very dumb thing to include in the dialogue.

The film loses its way for a bit in the 2nd half but the different setting makes it memorable and unfortunately, whilst Robeson has a good voice, the songs he sings aren't up to much. Watch out for the worst beginning to a film ever as news headlines are flashed quickly during the credits inducing epileptic fits and migraines for everyone watching and Kouka has the weirdest accent you will ever hear. She is the woman Robeson meets in the desert.

Great entertainment with several interesting aspects. Tailored for Robeson's self-preferred Black Superman persona, this movie has scenes of Robeson ordering Wallace Ford ("Old Pa" from Patch of Blue) to tend to his camel, and Robeson commanding an army into battle. All this is done with a genial sense of humor that keeps it fun! Robeson is a man on the run, who is also a college-educated doctor. Remember, this was 20 years before Sidney came along.

Paul Robeson shines as a GI who disobeys orders to abandon a torpedoed ship in order to pry loose a door and free 6 fellow Negro soldiers. He punches his sergeant, who falls and hits his head and dies, while Robeson continues his effort and succeeds in rescuing the men. His captain, Henry Wilcoxon, stands up for him at a hearing, declaring it would be unjust to punish a man for a heroic deed. But the major in charge disagrees, since Robeson disobeyed orders and struck a superior officer. He is put under arrest pending a court-martial. On Christmas Eve, Wilcoxon lets Robeson out of his cell to join fellow soldiers at a Christmas songfest, but Robeson escapes in a small boat, befriending Wallace Ford, the only other person in the boat. They head for Africa and Robeson starts a new happy life in the desert, marrying Princess Kouka, who bears him two children. Meanwhile, Wilcoxon is court-martialed for complicity in the escape and sentenced to Leavenworth for five years. When he gets out, his only object in life is to find and bring back Robeson, who could clear hum of the complicity charge. Wilcoxon accidentally sees Robeson in a newsreel some explorers shot while in Africa, and he goes to bring him back.

Two original songs were written for Robeson, whose rich baritone voice is always a pleasure to hear. There's also a bit of adventure in the film, as Robeson leads a 12-mile-long caravan of camels trekking to an area to pick up a year's supply of salt. In an exciting sequence, they have to fight off a group of bandits.

Putting the opening scenes aside, this film turns most of Hollywood's favorite racial conventions upside down. Robeson is the one and only action hero in this film, he has a tiny white sidekick who provides comic relief and he gets the girl. The girl is played by a dark skinned actress while her "Arab" brothers are all white, but otherwise it is less groan worthy than many modern films. It has few pretensions, is well written and has lots and lots of footage of camels. Even the plot twist that another reviewer complains of is sort of plausible. And Robeson sings "Mammy's little baby loves shortnin' bread" to a baby and leaves out the "pickaniny" lines, so even that isn't really objectionable.

Typical Robeson film. Well intentioned as hell but with poor writing, acting, cinematography and direction. The only thing exceptional about it as a Robeson film is that the songs suck.