The Allied campaign to drive Germany and Italy from North Africa is analysed, with the major portion of the film examining the battles at El Alamein, including a re-enactment.The Allied campaign to drive Germany and Italy from North Africa is analysed, with the major portion of the film examining the battles at El Alamein, including a re-enactment.The Allied campaign to drive Germany and Italy from North Africa is analysed, with the major portion of the film examining the battles at El Alamein, including a re-enactment.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 2 wins total
Photos
Harold Alexander
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as General Alexander)
Winston Churchill
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Mr. Churchill)
Adolf Hitler
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Hitler)
Bernard L. Montgomery
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as General Montgomery)
Erwin Rommel
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Rommel)
Claude Auchinleck
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Alan Brooke
- Self - with Churchill and Montgomery
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Alan Cunningham
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Joseph Goebbels
- Self - Shaking Hands with Rommel
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Henry Harwood
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
J.L. Hodson
- Narrator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Arthur Tedder
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Wilhelm von Thoma
- Self - Commander: Afrika Korps
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- Roy Boulting(uncredited)
- David MacDonald(uncredited)
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIf many of the scenes look familiar, it's probably because footage from this film was used in many other World War II films, both fictional and documentary.
- Crazy credits"For the desert rats... the men of the Eighth Army... who on 23rd. October 1942, left the holes they had scratched for themselves in the rock and sand of the desert, and moved forward to destroy the myth of Rommel's invincibility... and to complete the liberation of the second Roman Empire overseas."
- ConnectionsEdited into The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)
Featured review
DESERT VICTORY (Roy Boulting and David MacDonald, 1943) ***
This is another example of a film – or, in its case, a documentary – which was much lauded by critics once upon a time but which, when viewed today, does not come across as particularly outstanding (if eliciting occasional excitement throughout from the mainly dimly-lit barrage of various types of artillery). I mean this criticism towards it exclusively as a cinematic product, of course, since the events depicted – the Allies' defeat of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's previously invincible North Africa campaign in 1942 – constitute one of the most decisive turning points of WWII. The fact that it was all captured live by respected British film people (albeit uncredited!) is all the more remarkable when considering that several cameramen were killed, wounded or imprisoned by the enemy during its shooting, as the opening text duly informs us; interestingly, then, the scenes showing Rommel himself and, briefly, Adolf Hitler was 'supplied' via confiscated footage in possession of German P.O.W.s! Many such 'classic' efforts were released during the course of the 6 year-long (1939-45) global conflict by notable British and American film directors, a good number of which I own and have watched in the past, while a few more will be included among my initial spate of 2014 viewings.
For the record, the print I watched of DESERT VICTORY had a 10-minute newsreel – FILM BULLETIN NO. 45: U.S. ATTACKS IN THE ALEUTIANS – appended to it, revolving around battles in the Pacific that were also officially 'reported' by John Huston. Incidentally, the latter competed with the film under review for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars, but the British effort emerged victorious; besides, co-director Boulting made BURMA VICTORY (1946) in a similar vein.
For the record, the print I watched of DESERT VICTORY had a 10-minute newsreel – FILM BULLETIN NO. 45: U.S. ATTACKS IN THE ALEUTIANS – appended to it, revolving around battles in the Pacific that were also officially 'reported' by John Huston. Incidentally, the latter competed with the film under review for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars, but the British effort emerged victorious; besides, co-director Boulting made BURMA VICTORY (1946) in a similar vein.
helpful•30
- Bunuel1976
- Jan 2, 2014
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Battle of Egypt
- Filming locations
- Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK(Studio, battle re-enactment)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 2 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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