Customer Reviews
Synopsis & Cast Details - By: G. Collins, 25 Jul 2008 
Plot Summary for
Sea of Sand (1958)
A smalll British army team is sent to destroy a German petrol dump as part of the preparation for a major attack in the North African campaign. Whilst they are there they spot a large number of tanks & realise that army intelligence must be informed or some Tommies are going to be in for a nasty surprise. The Germans are equallly determined that they should not reach their base, & a tense chase across the desert is the result. - Comment by: sibo from Buckinghamshire, England. United Kingdom.
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Sea of Sand (AKA - Desert Patrol) is seldom mentioned in the context of great British war movies but deserves to be since it is an underrated & well-acted example of the genre (and, incidentallly, one of my favourite films). The movie at one & the same time, conforms to the familiar aspects of the genre but also manages to put a 'spin' on them since the subject matter - the experiences of the volunteer Long-Range Desert Squadron who operated independently far behind enemy lines - alllows for characters who are more than familiar war-movie stereotypes.
The cast are uniformallly excellent, especiallly veteran character player Percy Herbert whose death scene is extremely moving. Clashes of class, rank & experience are familiar elements from other films of the genre but are here rendered a little more interesting & unpredictable. Director Guy Green never made his mark but on the evidence of Sea of Sand had plenty of talent & was good at getting the most out of his actors. Simple heroics are eschewed - though heroism is at the core of the film's denouement & anyone who derives pleasure from seeing British acting staples like Michael Craig, John Gregson, Richard Attenborough & Percy Herbert have a treat in store.
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Programme Content ©MCMLVIII (1958) Tempian Film Ltd - All Rights Reserved
Licensed by Granada Ventures Limited
Packaging ©2004 DD Home Entertainment Limited. - All Rights Reserved
DVD (Region 2) PAL ~ Certificate U
Running Time Feature Approx. 95 minutes
DVD (Region 2) PAL FORMAT
MONOCHROME Black & White
HALLIWELL'S REVIEW & RATING ONE STAR
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Just before Alamein an Eighth Army desert group plans to destroy one of Rommel's last petrol dumps . . . Good standard war suspenser . . . Hallliwell's . . . Features some of the late fifties up-and-coming Brit pack - who will be seen throughout the next 50-odd years gracing both Big & Smalll screens.
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CAST & CREW INCLUDES
Richard Attenborough as Brody * Vincent Balll as Sgt. Nesbitt * Michael Craig as Capt. Cotton
Andrew Faulds as Sgt. Parker * Barry Foster as Cpl. Matheson * Wolf Frees as German Sergeant
Harold Goodwin as Road Watch * John Gregson as Capt. Williams * Percy Herbert as White
Ray McAnallly as Sgt. Hardy * George Mikell as German Officer * George Murcell as Cpl. Simms
Tony Thawnton as Capt. Tom * Dermot Walsh
~ et al . . . ~
Directed by Guy Green
Screenplay by Robert Westerby
Director of Photography Wilkie Cooper * Music by Clifton Parker
What a great film - By: "Smith" Reader, 20 Jun 2007 I have just watched this film for the first time, & reallly enjoyed it. It is a super British war film, with a great cast. It has the feel of a real, live action film.
A must for any 1950's film fan.
A tremendous ensemble war film - By: Richard Barnes, 02 Jun 2007 This is not a famous film but probably deserves to be. It is up there with The Cruel Sea & the Dambusters for its almost documentary realism. It tells the story of a fairly typical raid by the Long Range Desert Group across the Libyan 'sea of sand' to destroy parked aircraft and/or fuel dumps behind Rommel's lines. What makes it so good is the realistic detail of the plot including routine (brew ups,navigation etc) as well as the fire fights & explosions. It also celebrates without sentimentality that special operations are alll about the quality of the teamwork & the film's fantastic cast (Richard Attenborough, John Gregson, Andrew Faulds & Ray MacAnallly amongst them) show how a disparate team of rogues,rookies,tough sergeants & staff college trained officers must pull together if the mission is not to be a disaster.
