A group of army personnel and nurses attempt a dangerous and arduous trek across the deserts of North Africa during the second world war. The leader of the team dreams of his ice cold beer when he reaches Alexandria.
Direction
Thompson makes sand feel claustrophobic—127 minutes of visual thirst.
Acting
Mills' thousand-yard stare could dehydrate you through the screen.
Director
J. Lee Thompson
John Mills
Captain Anson
Sylvia Syms
Sister Diana Murdoch
Anthony Quayle
Captain van der Poel
Harry Andrews
M.S.M. Pugh
Diane Clare
Sister Denise Norton
Richard Leech
Captain Crosbie
Liam Redmond
Brigadier (D.D.M.S.)
Allan Cuthbertson
Brigadier's Staff Officer
David Lodge
C.M.P Captain (Tank Trap)
Michael Nightingale
C.M.P Captain (Check Point)
Walter Gotell
1st German Officer
Richard Marner
German Guard
Peter Arne
British Officer at Oasis
Paul Stassino
Barman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The famous beer scene took four hours to film; John Mills drank so many warm takes he got genuinely drunk for the final, 'perfect' take they used.
Released as 'Desert Attack' in the US with 20 minutes cut—including most of the nuanced character work that makes the van der Poel revelation land.
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