Sahara (1943 American film)

Sahara
Theatrical release poster
Directed byZoltán Korda
Written byJames O'Hanlon
(adaptation)
Screenplay byJohn Howard Lawson
Zoltan Korda
Story byPhilip MacDonald
(as Philip Macdonald)
Based onThe Thirteen
1936 Soviet film
by Mikhail Romm
Produced byHarry Joe Brown
StarringHumphrey Bogart
Bruce Bennett
J. Carrol Naish
Lloyd Bridges
CinematographyRudolph Maté
Edited byCharles Nelson
Music byMiklós Rózsa
Color processBlack and white
Production
company
Columbia Pictures
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • November 11, 1943 (1943-11-11)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.3 million[1][2]

Sahara is a 1943 American action war film directed by Zoltán Korda and starring Humphrey Bogart as an American tank commander in Libya who, along with a handful of Allied soldiers, tries to defend an isolated well with a limited supply of water from a German Afrika Korps battalion during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II.

The story is based on the novel Patrol by Philip MacDonald,[3] and an incident depicted in the 1936 Soviet film The Thirteen by Mikhail Romm. The adaptation is by John Howard Lawson, who later was a member of the blacklisted Hollywood Ten. Sahara was remade by André de Toth as a Western called Last of the Comanches (1953), and four decades later by Brian Trenchard-Smith as the American-Australian television film Sahara (1995).[4] Nine Men, released by Ealing Studios on 22 February 1943, has a similar basic plot line.

Critics praised the film for its blend of action, suspense and poignancy. J. Carrol Naish earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as an Italian prisoner; Rudolph Maté was nominated for Best Cinematography (Black-and-White); and John Livadary was nominated for Best Sound.[5]