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Sea of Sand

Sea of Sand

  • Status: Released
  • 04-11-1958
  • Runtime: 97 min
  • Score: 6.5
  • Vote count: 20

A small British army team is sent deep behind enemy lines to destroy a German petrol dump as part of the preparation for a major attack in the North African campaign. Sea of Sand was distributed in the US in a shortened version, Desert Patrol.

Richard Attenborough

Brody

John Gregson

Cpt Williams

Michael Craig

Cpt Cotton

Vincent Ball

Sgt Nesbitt

Percy Herbert

White

Ray McAnally

Sgt. Hardy

Barry Foster

Cpl. Matheson

George Murcell

Cpl. Simms

Andrew Faulds

Sgt. Parker

Harold Goodwin

Road Watch

Tony Thawnton

Capt. Tom

Wolf Frees

German Sergeant

George Mikell

German Officer

Martin Benson

German Half-track Officer

Joe Wadham

Soldier

Dermot Walsh

Commanding Officer

CinemaSerf

A squadron of hardy soldiers working on infiltration, enduring the searing heat of the WWII North Africa campaign, are despatched to blow up a fuel dump deep behind enemy lines. It's only when they reach the location they discover something way more perilous than petrol, and so much race back to HQ - with the Nazis hot on their trail - to inform their superiors of this potentially game-changing information. It's quite a familiar looking story that goes some way to depicting the harshness of desert warfare and of the gritty determination of those men sent to fight and survive in this most hostile of global environments. Richard Attenborough nominally heads up a cast of reliable British stalwarts including Michael Craig, John Gregson and the always dependable Percy Herbert and the Libyan photography adds an extra authenticity to the ghastliness and tenaciousness of their struggle. Like many films made some time after the war, it has less of a propagandist element to it and so the plot doesn't shy away from tragedy which, again, lends plausibility to their travails as they struggle to cross the sand. Guy Green has used his cast and the location well here - it is at times an uncomfortable watch and that adds to it's character. Well worth a watch if you get a chance.