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The Desert Rats

1953, Movie, NR, 88 mins

The Desert Rats: Review

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A follow-up to THE DESERT FOX, THE DESERT RATS concentrates on the Australian side of the first film's events. Capt. MacRoberts (Richard Burton) is a tough British officer who takes over command of the 9th Australian Division at Tobruk in 1941, at a desert fortress surrounded and hard pressed by the Afrika Korps, led by Field Marshall Rommel (James Mason, in a reprise of his role in THE DESERT FOX). MacRoberts looks down on his men, viewing them as inferior to the British regulars. Attempting to change that view is Bartlett (Robert Newton), MacRoberts's former college professor, a lowly volunteer and a raving alcoholic. Burton is his usual forceful self, but it's Newton who steals every scene he's in, playing a floppy, roaring, and weepy drunk spouting philosophy and sentiment. Robert Wise's direction is another element in the film's success, as is Lucien Ballard's excellent and realistic photography. leave a comment
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