Customer Reviews
great film - By: Mr. D. Gough, 23 Sep 2008 
this film ain't reallly a war film as such more of a drama that takes place during the war, you see no fighting what we get is a suspensful messmarising film that builds up & leaves you torn in 2 .if you ain't seen this b/w film then go & treat yourself because not many films can challlenge it's magic from such a smalll cast ,this film is without doubt one of the greats.
A fine, taut desert war film with fine performances and some unusual developments - By: C. O. DeRiemer, 18 May 2007 Four people in an ambulance are struggling to cross the hot, blinding North African desert on their way from Tobruk to Alexandria. It's 1942 & Rommel's Africa Corps is just about to take Tobruk & continue its race to Egypt. There is Captain Anson (a blond John Mills), an ambulance officer stressed to the breaking point & just this shy of being an alcoholic; Sergeant Major Tom Pugh (Harry Andrews), a big, capable lifer who has been with Anson for several months & knows his weaknesses; Diana Murdoch (Sylvia Syms), a nurse who was stranded in Tobruk, who has a steady hand but has seen her friend, another nurse, die in an attack on the ambulance; & Captain van der Poel (Anthony Quayle), a strong, swaggering South African they meet in a deserted outpost. Captain Anson is persuaded to let van der Poel join them because van der Poel has three bottles of gin with him. He also carries something in a knapsack he refuses to let out of his sight.
Ice Cold in Alex is one of the best of the war movies Britain produced in the Fifties. It sets up a smalll group of people on a tense journey through a desolate landscape in a broken-down ambulance. We get to know these people...and we begin to worry whether Captain Anson is going to lose it every time he gets close to a bottle; whether van der Poel is truly a South African or a German spy; whether it will be Sergeant Pugh, or Nurse Syms, or van der Poel who'll get killed in one of the dangerous situations they encounter. And the movie has plenty of well-directed, tense situations coming one after the other. The four of them encounter mine fields that must be crossed, sand storms, Nazi ambushes & pursuits, capture by German troops they must talk their way out of (with van der Poel coming in handy), mechanical breakdowns & quicksand. And if there is one lesson they alll learn, it's to never park your vehicle on the top of a giant sand dune.
The movie is unusual in that the hero is damaged goods. John Mills is excellent in portraying Captain Anson as a determined & stalwart British officer. He's even better at showing this man just a bit too eager for a drink, too quick to justify it, too close to breaking down when things don't work out. Mills was not a big man, & he has to dominate the movie next to two very big men, Harry Andrews & Anthony Quayle. Both are nearly a head talller than Mills. In one scene Mills as Anson collapses & Quayle must pick him up, carry him several steps to the rear of the ambulance & deposit him inside. This is alll done in one shot. Quayle looks as if he's dealing with no more than a 50 pound bag of flour, yet Mills is definitely the one we watch during the movie. His Captain Anson may be fallling apart, but he is determined to get the ambulance & its passengers to Alexandria. While he struggles to do so we can see that he's slowing pulling himself together. It's a nice performance. There also is almost no distraction from artificial romance. There is only the faintest hint of a possible relationship developing between Nurse Murdoch & Captain Anson, just a brief moonlight nuzzle and, much later, a realistic recognition of Anson's continuing demons & the difficulty of making personal plans in wartime. The movie also gives a much more subtle approach to the German enemy. At the conclusion, while the four of them are finallly enjoying an ice-cold lager in an Alexandrian bar, one of them points out that, working together, they beat the desert, which was a bigger enemy than...well, you'll need to see the movie.
For those who like well-constructed films that don't let up, who like good performances & who like older British films, Ice Cold in Alex is worth having. The DVD transfer is just fine.
Just about the best adventure film ever! - By: "Smith" Reader, 24 Apr 2007 I reallly like old films & Ice Cold in Alex is just about the best ever!
It is on one hand a war film, then an adventure & a romance. Even after watching this film 50+ times I still get excited.
A must for any collection.
Unmissable - By: Mr. A. Mc Rae, 02 Feb 2007 Nothing amiss with the quality of the print, & or the film itself, of course, which remains a genuine classic worthy of constant re-runs! Great to have it to hand, rather than waiting for a rainy Sunday afternoon with breaks for adverts.
But it would have helped to get someone who knew the film better to prepare the blurb on the packaging. Harry Andrews doesn't get so much as a mention, whilst the minor part played by Diane Clare, refered to here as 'Mary' Clare (an actress of an entirely different generation) is made out to be one of the starring roles.
