Introduction

Sahara is a 1943 American black-and-white action war film from Columbia Pictures, directed by Zoltán Korda, that stars Humphrey Bogart as an American tank commander in Libya during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II.

The storyline is based on a story by Philip MacDonald and an incident depicted in the 1937 Soviet film The Thirteen by Mikhail Romm.

Later, Sahara was remade by André de Toth as a Western called Last of the Comanches (1953), and three decades later by Brian Trenchard-Smith as the American-Australian made-for-television film Sahara (1995).

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Outline

The crew of an M3 Lee tank, attached to the British Eighth Army, commanded by US Army Master Sergeant Joe Gunn, and nicknamed Lulu Belle, become separated from their unit during a general retreat from German forces after the fall of Tobruk. Heading south across the Libyan Desert to rejoin the rest of their unit, they come across a bombed-out field hospital, where they pick up a motley collection of stragglers, among them British Army medical officer Captain Halliday, four Commonwealth soldiers and Free French Corporal Leroux. Halliday, the only officer, cedes command to Gunn.

The group comes upon Sudanese Sergeant Major Tambul and his Italian prisoner, Giuseppe. Tambul volunteers to lead them to a well at Hassan Barani. Gunn insists that the Italian be left behind, but, after driving a few hundred feet, relents and lets him join the others.

En route, Luftwaffe pilot Captain von Schletow strafes the tank, seriously wounding Clarkson, one of the British soldiers. The German fighter aircraft is shot down and von Schletow is captured. Arriving at Hassan Barani, the group finds the well is dry. Clarkson succumbs to his wounds and they bury him there.

Tambul guides them to the desert well at Bir Acroma, but it is almost dry, providing only a trickle of water, and the group must delay their departure until they can collect as much as they can. When German scouts arrive soon afterwards, in a half-track, Gunn sets up an ambush.

Gunn finds out from one of the two survivors that their mechanised battalion, desperate for water, is following close behind. He persuades the others to make a stand to delay the Germans while Waco takes the half-track in search of reinforcements. The two Germans are released to carry back an offer: “food for water”, even though there is hardly any water left.

When the Germans arrive in force, Gunn changes the deal to “water for guns”. The well has completely dried up by then but a battle of wills begins between Gunn and Major von Falken, the German commander. Gunn keeps up the pretence that the well has much water and negotiates to buy time. The Germans attack and are beaten off again and again, but one by one, the defenders are killed.

During one attack, von Schletow tries to escape, stabbing Giuseppe (who gathers up courage to denounce fascism) in the process, but before he dies Giuseppe manages to warn Gunn. Tambul chases von Schletow down and kills him before he can tell the Germans the truth about the well, but Tambul is shot dead. After a second parley, von Falken has his men shoot Leroux in the back as the Frenchman returns to his own side. Gunn and his men fire back, killing von Falken.

The Germans’ final assault turns into a full-blown surrender as they drop their weapons and claw across the sand towards the well. To Gunn’s shock, he discovers that a German shell that exploded in the well has tapped into a source of water. Gunn and Bates, the only other Allied survivor, disarm the Germans while they drink. As they are marching their prisoners east, Gunn and Bates encounter Allied troops guided by Waco. They receive news of the Allied victory at the First Battle of El Alamein, turning back Rommel’s Afrika Korps.

Cast

• Humphrey Bogart as Sergeant Joe Gunn.
• Dan Duryea as Jimmy Doyle.
• Bruce Bennett as “Waco” Hoyt.
• Richard Nugent as Captain Jason Halliday, Royal Army Medical Corps.
• Lloyd Bridges as Fred Clarkson.
• Patrick O’Moore as Osmond “Ozzie” Bates.
• Guy Kingsford as Peter Stegman, South African Army.
• Carl Harbord as Marty Williams.
• Louis T. Mercier as Corporal Jean “Frenchie” Leroux, Free French Forces.
• Rex Ingram as Sergeant Major Tambul, Sudan Defence Force.
• J. Carrol Naish as Giuseppe.
• Kurt Kreuger as Captain von Schletow.
• John Wengraf as Major von Falken.

Trivia

• Somewhere in the Sahara was the film’s working title.
• Production began on 29 January 1943, and wrapped on 17 April 1943.
  • The cast and crew spent eleven weeks on location in the Imperial County, California, portion of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park near the Salton Sea.
• Events are depicted which point to the Battle of Gazala, an important battle of the Western Desert Campaign, fought around the port of Tobruk in Libya.
• Bogart makes reference to events that occurred in May–June 1942.
• The battle had begun with the British stronger in terms of both numbers and quality of equipment, after having received many of the American M3 tanks (also the tank seen in the film).
• A small group of American advisors and crews trained the British in the use of the equipment.
• The British forces were routed, and as shown in Sahara, many tanks were damaged, but were unable to be salvaged due to the 8th Army’s retreat.
• The British lost virtually all their tanks, although a small number were evacuated. General Rommel pursued the British into Egypt, trying to keep British forces under pressure and denying them the opportunity to regroup.
• As both sides neared exhaustion, the British were able to check Rommel’s advance at the First battle of El Alamein.
• Bogart and his M3 crew are able to rally before hearing a radio report about the British victory.
• The lead role was initially offered to Gary Cooper, Glenn Ford and Brian Donlevy before Bogart.
• The tank commanded by Sgt. Tree (Dan Aykroyd) in director Steven Spielberg’s World War II comedy film 1941 (1979) is named “Lulubelle” as a homage to Sahara.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Zoltan Korda.
• Producer(s): Harry Joe Brown.
• Writer(s): Philip MacDonald (story), James O’Hanlon (screenplay), John Howard Lawson (screenplay), and Sidney Buchman (uncredited).
• Music: Miklos Rozsa.
• Cinematography: Rudolph Mate.
• Editor(s): Charles Nelson.
• Production: Columbia Pictures.
• Distributor(s): Columbia Pictures.
• Release Date: 11 November 1943.
• Running time: 97 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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