The events surrounding a troop in North Africa dealing with a mission against Rommel are dramatized here with a return to what audiences had seen several years before with "The Desert Rats" and "The Desert Foxes". Richard Burton had been in one of those films and returned to familiar territory in this one, a World War II drama that unlike those two films is now pretty much forgotten. It's a story of a difficult mission, of human compassion and moral struggle, and a reminder that war in the silence of the unknown can be worse than a slow death.
Burton leads this troop through various struggles, finding his own as he deals with the issue of life and death for suffering German prisoners. One man faces death by trying one attempt to bind the ties by showing Burton the picture of his German family, as if to say, "I'm human too." Burton, with that gorgeously eloquent voice, shows tenderness even as he kills, making the scene touching on many different levels.
Burton has his back story explained as the one time lover of his commanding officer's wife, played by the sultry Ruth Roman. This creates a quiet animosity between Burton and c.o. Curd Jurhgens that heads to their mission overseas. Roman makes the most out of a small role, and Jergens adds layers of fear, desperation and turmoil of an often unsympathetic character. As directed by Nicholas Ray, this is so much more than a war mission film, with some surprising appearances in nice supporting roles by well known actors such as Christopher Lee and Nigel Green, showing the horrors and madness in war. A scene with a deadly scorpion (one of the tiny ones) will give you a start, so be warned.
Burton leads this troop through various struggles, finding his own as he deals with the issue of life and death for suffering German prisoners. One man faces death by trying one attempt to bind the ties by showing Burton the picture of his German family, as if to say, "I'm human too." Burton, with that gorgeously eloquent voice, shows tenderness even as he kills, making the scene touching on many different levels.
Burton has his back story explained as the one time lover of his commanding officer's wife, played by the sultry Ruth Roman. This creates a quiet animosity between Burton and c.o. Curd Jurhgens that heads to their mission overseas. Roman makes the most out of a small role, and Jergens adds layers of fear, desperation and turmoil of an often unsympathetic character. As directed by Nicholas Ray, this is so much more than a war mission film, with some surprising appearances in nice supporting roles by well known actors such as Christopher Lee and Nigel Green, showing the horrors and madness in war. A scene with a deadly scorpion (one of the tiny ones) will give you a start, so be warned.