Foxhole in Cairo

Ever heard of Director John Moxey? Congrats if you have. I haven't. That now out of the way, I have to admit that for an unknown good ol' Moxey did a smashing job with a cast where the only truly recognizable figures are those of James Robertson Justice - larger than life and with that wonderful voice to boot - and Michael Caine, of all people, early in his career and acting as a German spy in North Africa reading Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.

Moxey also extracted a credible show from Adrian Hoven, as the foxy agent going the long route to infiltrate the British information hub in Cairo, Egypt. His girlfriend is exotic dancer/spy Gloria Mestre, displaying one of the loveliest pair of legs I have ever seen, and her dancing is sexy beyond adjectives.

Cinematography is strictly standard with some "authentic" war footage interspersed, the script by Leonard Mosley certainly good enough to keep me watching right through.

An added plus involves the interests of Egyptians and Jews to be rid of British colonial rule, leading to conflicting interests. FOXHOLE IN CAIRO may not be a masterpiece but it is certainly a solid work reflecting the many motivations and directions the human soul can take in a war.

Despite obvious budget limitations, I found it believable and well worth watching. 8/10.

German spies Adrian Hoven and Neill McCallum head to Cairo to find out for Rommel where the British plan to counter-attack in the desert campaign. They seem to be doing very well, but don't they realize that James Robertson Justice is head of Navy Counter-Intelligence in Cairo? What's that? Wasn't Operation Salaam an Army operation? Nominally, but putting him in the army would have required Justice to shave his beard.

It's not a particularly gripping story except that I kept wonder when, if ever, anyone was going to do anything to stop the Nasty Nazis. I also kept looking for Michael Caine, who is supposed to be in this as a German soldier. I couldn't spot him.

Director John Llewellyn Moxey was better known for a long career in television than for the eight minor films he was in charge of. In the late 1960s, he moved from Britain to Hollywood, where he continued to direct, ending with MURDER SHE WROTE about 1991. He died in 2019, 94 years of age.

Apart from a ridiculous scene which was supposedly set in the desert (but the background is CLEARLY a cheap painting), "Foxhole in Cairo" is a terrific espionage flick set during WWII.

During the early portion of the battle for North Africa between the British and Germans/Italians, the British did not do very well. At one point, the British lost so many battles that they were left with a portion of Egypt...and that was it. This movie is set during this time and is about a German attempt to sneak spies into Cairo in order to report on the British troop movements. However, the Brits are pretty savvy and the film is about their efforts to find these spies pretending to be Allied soldiers.

The film has a slow, serious tone...and this might lose some viewers. But it you are patient and don't mind the tempo, the film rewards you with some excellent acting, taut action and a terrific finale. All in all, well worth seeing...and not just for this but to catch a glimpse of Michael Caine in one of his early, albeit small, roles.

This film tells the same story as a film made in Germany "Rommel Ruft Kairo." The German film has a slightly different slant, but a number of the scenes are similar, and it basically tells the same story. There are no English subtitles, so best enjoyed if one understands German. The German version also expands the romantic aspect of the film with actress Elisabeth Müller, but the German film keeps Elisabeth's relationship respectable.

Foxhole in Cairo is an obscure WW2 movie from the 1960s. For die-hard fans of spy movies, this is a really fun one to watch, because it was made on the border between two film eras: the restrictive pre-1960s Hays Code era and the liberated uncensored modern era. In this film, while it pays homage to the 1940s in the wartime plot, the scenes with Fenella Fielding and Gloria Mestre are quite racy. There's a particularly nasty seductive dance, the likes of which hadn't been seen since Jean Harlow in the pre-code Beast of the City, in which the dancer's bellybutton is exposed—a previous no-no in the Hays era. There are obvious implications of premarital sex between the characters in the story—also a no-no—and the violence is pretty wicked and thrilling!

If you like films that keep you on your toes about who you can trust, or tension-filled espionage plots, give this one a try and see if you like it. As a bonus, keep an eye out for a very young Michael Caine as one of the German soldiers. He doesn't say much, since his character's supposed to be pretty incompetent, but he's awfully handsome!