The Immortal Sergeant

This mediocre drama stars Henry Fonda as a Cpl. Colin Spence, a Canadian (hence his lack of a British accent) serving with the British Eighth Army in the Libyan desert. He and his comrades in arms, commanded by tough old Sgt. Kelly (Thomas Mitchell), are cut off from their lines and face annihilation. During a lonely night vigil with the dying Kelly, Colin contemplates his slim chance of leaving the desert alive, and, in flashback, we see his prewar life. A reporter and would-be novelist, he is deeply in love with Valentine (Maureen O'Hara), but because of his reluctance to tell her so, she seems destined to pair up with Colin's polished, assertive rival, Benedict ...