Hollywood made few movies about the desert conflict during World War II--and curiously; two that they did (Five Graves to Cairo is the other) were remakes of films set elsewhere. John Howard Lawson based his script on a prewar Russian film (Lawson would later be blacklisted; incidentally) about a military patrol besieged by Asian bandits. The situation readily lent itself to a wartime parallel and became one of the most engrossing story lines of its era.

A U.S. tank crew and their commander (Humphrey Bogart); separated from the main force; make their way through the desert; accumulating a veritable United Nations of stragglers as they go: a few of Montgomery's tommies (including that old limey Lloyd Bridges) and a towering African (Rex Ingram) and his prisoner--a garrulous Italian (Oscar-nominated J. Carrol Naish) who can't wait to tell his new friends about his relatives in "Peets-a-bourg Pennsylvania." They come upon a ruin; the onetime site of an oasis; and almost immediately find themselves defending it against a small army of Germans who believe there's still water to be had there. Yes and no--there's a biblical wrinkle to this tale--and the standoff between the polyglot democrats and the Nazis who far outnumber them is a fine; sun-baked study in suspense.

For Bogart; this Columbia picture was a rare furlough from Warner Bros.; where he always felt embattled. His pleasure must have seeped into his work; because Sgt. Joe Gunn is one of the most sympathetic and heartfelt characterizations the actor ever gave us. This is one good movie. --Richard T. Jameson