Au sud d'Alger

A British adventure; A story about a British archaeologist and an American philanthropist searching for an ancient, fabled golden mask in a Roman tomb in Algeria. They have to contend with dangerous looters out to steal the artefact. This schoolboy style tale lacks originality, but it gains for being colourful, with marvellous scenery and locations, and the cinematography of desert scenes are stunning. It was mostly filmed on location in Algiers and Tunis which are the main attractions for viewers. Scholarly Eric Portman and jaunty Van Heflin provide good contrast and conflict. Wanda Hendrix provides adequate support and all the supporting and local players are impressive for all their contributions. All in all, it is crisply directed but low key for its subgenre.

This movie has not been seen anywhere for several years (that I am aware of. The story deals with an archaeologist's passion to find a fabulous golden mask thought to be buried in a Roman tomb. The hunt begins in Rome and ends in the sands of Africa.The pursuers of the mask range in character from good to evil. The movie rather reminded me of the movie,Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Both are in black and white, dealing with greed and the consequences of greed.The flavor of this movie was interesting to me. The rather bleak desert locations were more than made-up for by the depiction of the local tribes and their customs. Unfortunately for this movie, the background music was seriously overdone, almost detracting from it. I find this to be the case often with early European movies. However, if you enjoy treasure hunts and ancient history somewhat fictionalized, this is a treasure hunt movie worth seeing. I'd like to see it again.

When a film location has to change from Egypt because a fresh revolution going on there to Algeria and Tunisia where revolutionary activities were just getting into high gear against the French you know this has to be one hard luck film.

American novelist Van Heflin looking for material for a new book teams up with archeologist Eric Portman on a desert dig near the ruins of Carthage. The hunt is for a legendary Golden Mask belonging to a Roman conqueror back in the day.

Along for the ride is Portman's daughter Wanda Hendrix, Portman's daughter who Heflin falls for. There are also a couple of crooks along to try and steal this archeological treasure.

This film was Van Heflin's first foray into European film making and it looks like his paycheck cleared. I saw this film over 50 years ago on television and remember being colossally bored with it. It's not come out on DVD or any other media so I can only write this review from distant memory.

Van Heflin risked revolution for this. He's a reliable and competent aqctor, but even he's entitled to a Thanksgiving feast.

Watchable. Interesting footage of actual local culture, journeys through the desert. Lacks character development, apart from Van Heflin's character, and one poignant scene between Wanda Hendrix and Jacques, Heflin's rival for her affection.

I like to research backgrounds to films after I watch them, so some actual history would have given the film a bit more depth for me. I looked up the character Marcus Manilius- there was a famous poet/astrologer by that name, and one famous general with a similar name, but no connection to the plot here. Same with the places Rifka and Sadamis- nothing turns up.

This film was recently shown on Turner Classic Movies and the print was appallingly bad. While shot in Technicolor, the print is badly faded, a bit dark at times and a bit blurry. It sure ain't pretty.

Dr. Burnet (Eric Portman) is an archaeologist whose passion is finding the famed Mask of Moloch. However, after years of searching in Algeria, he's exhausted his funds--though he thinks he's tantalizingly close. In order to finance his next expedition, he's forced to take along an American writer who he has no interest in taking with him. He thinks Nicholas Chapman (Van Heflin) is a boob, though Chapman is naturally the right man for the expedition. You know this because the British producers of this film have imported an American to star in the picture--and they'd never have such a star be an idiot! While such an expedition might seem pretty mundane, unfortunately a couple fortune-hunters, Kress and Petris are never far behind--waiting to steal the treasure and sell it to the highest bidder. You realize that something is afoot when Chapman returns to his hotel room to find it ransacked. But Kress and Petris are more than willing to go much further to get the mask.

With all these story elements, you would most likely assume it would an action-adventure film like "Raiders of the Lost Ark", right? Wrong. I agree with the other reviewers that say that it plays more like a documentary in style and especially in its pacing. The film should have been exciting but too often it just seems like a travelogue with a bit of a plot tossed into the mix. It takes too long to develop and the characters are amazingly flat. So, the dryness in this film is not just due to the desert locale! Overall, watchable but this is hardly an endorsement for you to watch the picture!