The Desert Rats

Come out of your holes you desert rats!

The Desert Rats is directed by Robert Wise and written by Richard Murphy. It stars Richard Burton, Robert Newton, Robert Douglas, Torin Thatcher, Chips Rafferty and James Mason. Music is by Leigh Harline and cinematography by Lucien Ballard.

The follow up to The Desert Fox (it's not a sequel) from two years earlier, was in essence an attempt to readdress the balance after The Desert Fox annoyed certain quarters with its admiration for what a great soldier Field Marshal Rommel was. So here we have the battle of Tobruk orchestrated by the astute Robert Wise, the plot is simple, but the characterisations are most certainly not, with lead men Burton and Newton terrific.

This important part of the...

With Rommel (James Mason) bearing down heavily on the beleaguered allied garrison of Tobruk, it falls to "Capt. MacRoberts" (Richard Burton) to try and galvanise some war weary ANZAC troops for one last defence against the wily Desert Fox. He's not exactly puritanical, but he doesn's suffer disobedience and that sets him, initially, against his new troop when he over-reacts to behaviour from their "Lt. Carstairs" (Charles Tingwell). As luck would have it, though, the regimental dipso - "Bartlett" (Robert Newton) just happens to have been the captain's schoolmaster and still commands enough respect with his former pupil to help him see past his red mist, and assist with the increasingly onerous responsibilities heaped upon him and his men as...

Movie Review: The Desert Rats (1953) The Desert Rats (1953), directed by Robert Wise, is a war film that brings to life the courage and perseverance of soldiers during the defense of Tobruk in World War II. While the film offers a Hollywood take on this significant chapter of history, it balances its historical inaccuracies with strong performances, especially from Richard Burton and James Mason, making it an engaging watch. The film focuses on British and Australian forces during the North African Campaign. Under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson (Burton), the men of Tobruk are forced to hold their ground against the German Afrika Korps. Burton delivers a commanding performance as the determined and resourceful officer, while Mason plays...