Adventure in Iraq

The Usually "Nervous" Over-Lords and Protectors of "Citizens" Against Anything They Saw as Offensive, or Anything that Violated "The Code"...

Were Now on "High-Alert" During WWII and Dictated to Hollywood that in this War-Time Movie the British Received a Few Lines of "Criticism" and the Arab World, Specifically Iraq Wouldn't Take Being Called "Devil-Worshipers" Lightly and We Americans could Use All the Allies We Could Get.

Also, Mentioned, as per Usual, was the Females Exposing "Skin", and for the "Holier Than Thou" "Code" and its Gate-Keepers, that was a Firm No-No.

So, even though, its 1943 and the World was at War...Concern about Protecting the Public from Titillation was Still On Their Minds and were Ready to Power-Play Films that had a "Hint" of the "Forbidden" and Strayed an Inch from the Required Restraint.

This Bit of Behind-the-Scenes Machinations is just a Reminder of How Stringently Enforced "The Code", that Began in Earnest in 1934, was Still, 10 Years Later, while the World was On-the-Brink, Would Die on a Hill of "Christian-Fundamentalism", Neglecting the 1st Amendment.

This Movie is a Low-Budget Warner-Brothers Back-Lot "Programmer" that is Played Mostly Tongue-in-Cheek, Witness Paul Cavanaugh's "Sheik".

The Film Tries to Make-Up for its Lack of "Adventure" in the Outdoor-Sense with a Love-Quadrangle,...

and an Aloof Attitude that Coats the War-Time Effort with Outrageous Jingoism On the Confinement of 2-Sets,

and a Calvary to the Rescue (Flying-Tigers) Ending that is Radio-Ready and Uses Over-the-Air Communications as "Weapons of Mass Destruction".

For Fans of B-Movies or Movies Set During War-Time, it's...

Worth a Watch.

***SPOILERS*** Running out of gas over the vast Syrian desert in Western Iraq former Flying Tigers pilot Doug Everett, Warren Douglas, and his passengers Mr. & Mrs. George and Tess Torrence,John Loder & Ruth Ford, are forced to land. Trying to call for help from the British military headquarters located in Baghdad Doug finds out that the batteries, or tubes, of his radio are burnt out. The three then decide to walk through the burning desert to the nearest Iraqi city called Ghatsi. When there the trio are taken in and entertained by the cities ruler Ahmid Be Nor, Paul Cavenagh. Warren & Dough are dressed in white dinner jackets with black bow ties and Tess is given a complete makeover to look like an Arabian princess.

Unknown to the three is that their being held hostage and will be killed by Ahmid's men if his three step-brothers, who were working as spies for Nazi Germany, are not allowed to be set free and not be executed the next morning by the British. Ahmid who is a very refined gentlemen, being that he was educated in the most prestigious schools in England, is not into the Devil Cult that his subjects adhere too but is such a worm and coward that he'll play along with them even if it is to murder George Doug & Tess, who he has the hot's for. As for his three crazy and fanatical step-brothers Ahmid feels that a volley of British bullets to their chests is just the right medicine that they need to cure them of their insane ideas.

George and Doug and Tess finally realize what's happening when their confronted by the crazed high priest of the city ,Martin Garralaga, who demands that they be sacrificed to the Devil or Evil One, did he mean by that Saddam Hussain? as soon as the brothers are executed by the British. Ahmid using his British butler Devins, Barry Bernard, to spy on the three and make it look like he wants to escape with them. This has both George and Doug get the drop on him, and drop Devin to his death off the palace balcony, as the two together with Tess make a run for freedom to their disabled plane with a number of radio tubes that they took from Ahmid's short wave radio. Which is used to keep to be in contact with his Nazi allies in Berlin Germany.

After getting to the plane and installing the tubes Doug calls for help and the US sends a squadron of fighter planes. The planes begin to bomb the hell out of Ghatsi and it's surroundings but George is tragically killed by Ahmid's mens during the fighting. Doug and Tess are taken prisoner again and held in the palace to be executed but Ahmid, and his "Fearless Warriors", wets their bloomers as the good old USA fighter planes start to bomb the stuffing out of their city. In the end even the crazed high priest gives in to the mighty US Army Air Force, and has both Doug and Tess released unharmed. With that the gutless and and self-serving Ahmid decides to join the allies in the war against he former friend Germany to save his stinking hide. The Germans learned the hard way the saying that "With friends like Ahmid you don't need enemies" will the USA learn the same thing?

The "Fearless Warriors" of Ghatsi as well as Ahmid and the cities high priest were so scared of the US military that they actually let a number of US servicemen go into the main palace, and direct the air attacks on them, without as much as laying a hand on them. even though scores of their "Fearless Warriors" were getting killed in the bombing that the US servicemen were directing. The bravery and fanaticism of the Ghatsi Devil Cult members, which must have numbered in the thousands, evaporated as soon as the first US bombs fell? Boy things were a lot different in Iraq back then in 1943 then they are there today in 2004.

A cheap B-movie lasting one hour in length and about a group of downed US airmen stranded in the desert with only a sinister sheikh for company. Based on a stage play, so this is incredibly talky and almost singularly lacking in suspense or interest.

For most of this film, I couldn't help but wish that Paul Cavanagh's scheming "Sheik Ahmid" had been played by Basil Rathbone! Not that it would have improved the story much, but it might have injected a touch more menace to this desert adventure. It's all about a group of Americans whose plane crashes and who find themselves as "guests" of the aforementioned potentate. "George" (John Loder), "Tess" (Ruth Ford) and "Doug" (Warren Douglas) soon realise that they are but pawns in a deadly game being played out around them. Can they thwart that cunning plan and escape with their lives? The first twenty minutes are actually quite good fun, but thereafter there is an awful lot of dialogue to compensate for a paucity of action, and it falls away before an ending that I found very disappointing - almost comical - especially the radio man in the throne room giving bombing instructions! Ford turns in quite a lively effort and it's still quite en enjoyable hour to pass.

"Adventure in Iraq" is a B-movie from Warner Brothers and like other Bs, it's about an hour in length, was filmed quickly and isn't especially deep nor was it intended to be. In other words, it's just meant to be a fun adventure film that preceded the A-picture (the larger budgeted movie shown during a double-feature).

Some folks are headed to Egypt during WWII. However, their plane develops engine troubles and crashes in the Iraq desert. Soon they find a town where the folks are supposed Devil worshipers. However, the local sheikh seems like a nice guy and welcomes them to his lovely home. All seems quite swell...but being a B-adventure film, you KNOW bad stuff is gonna start happening sooner or later!

So is it any good? Not especially. It's not so much bad but talky and a bit dull. For so much of the film, they talk and talk and little action actually occurs. It definitely could have used something to wake up the audience. You would have thought a Satanic cult would have made this a more exciting film than it actually was.

By the way, near the end of the movie some airplanes near where they crashed earlier in the film. These planes are from the mid-1930s and the US markings on them indicates that they are pre-WWII. It's a pretty crappy use of stock footage.

One scene in the film made me laugh. The folks decide to turn on the radio to find out if anyone is out looking for them. Almost instantly, BBC comes on and does exactly that! Now considering that they are in the middle of WWII, the odds of this are ridiculously low that folks in Britain would mention this at all.