The Desert Rats [1953] | ![The Desert Rats [1953]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516KSCBEHRL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Robert Wise
Actors: Richard Burton, Robert Newton, Robert Douglas, Torin Thatcher, Chips Rafferty
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Category: Video
New (3) Used (5) Collectible (5) from £2.95
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 10325
Format: Black & White, Hifi Sound, Pal
Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language)
Rating: Universal, suitable for all
Media: VHS Tape
Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 84 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
EAN: 5013738131354
ASIN: B00004CLFR
Theatrical Release Date: May 20, 1953
Release Date: August 24, 1998
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
In The Desert Ratshis second Hollywood role--between Oscar-nominated turns in My Cousin Rachel and The Robe--Richard Burton stars as a Scottish commando put in charge of a battalion of the Ninth Australian Division defending Tobruk. The Aussies don't like him, and with a year of grim North African duty already under his belt, he's not too crazy about his new responsibilities either. The outfit is charged with staving off the battering assaults of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel for two months to give the British Army time to regroup in Cairo and prepare for a counterattack. In the end, the "Desert Rats" play hell with the Desert Fox for 242 days, during which they and their commander develop some mutual respect.This is a solid, workmanlike World War Two picture that, having been made in 1953 rather than 1943, can acknowledge a degree of eccentric humanity and soldierly professionalism in the enemy. Featured guest star James Mason reprises his Rommel from The Desert Fox (1951)--playing all his scenes in German except for a scene of ironical repartee with Burton. Another distinguished Brit, Robert Newton, gets co-star billing as a boozy, self-confessed coward who used to be Burton's schoolmaster once upon a time. However, a goodly number of Australians--including Chips Rafferty and Charles "Bud" Tingwell (still going strong nearly 50 years later in Paul Cox's wonderful Innocence)--rate as much screentime. Robert Wise directed, with a trimness that reminds us he started out as an editor, and Lucien Ballard provides the pungent black-and-white cinematography. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com
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| Customer Reviews:
gripping ture story July 6, 2001
4 out of 14 found this review helpful
The desert rats, nick named by Romel, as they lived out the long days of the sige in the caves and bunkers of Tabrok. This film see this battle throught the eyes of a heroic british officer in comand of the colnial Austrain forces, his strugle for respect, there lives and his. A very well made gripping tale that show the tretery of the dearsts of noth africa in the 1940's. well worth a look
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