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Post by pimpinainteasy on Dec 21, 2018 5:14:51 GMT
five years after WAGES OF FEAR, another great man against nature film. this one is set in north africa during the second world war. a couple of army personnel and two nurses are to travel across the dessert while battling bombers and potential minefields before they reach british lines. an afrikaner soldier joins them on the way. the whole film is about how they overcome different hurdles. first a potential minefiled with the captain and the afrikaner soldier walking slowly in front of the truck to thwart any mines. the director steps in and shows us the truck barely missing a mine, which none of the characters are aware of. they run across german units on the way even as one of the nurses die from a bullet wound. the captain only wants to reach ALEX where an ice cold beer is waiting for him at the bar. soon, they grow suspicious of the german solider who manages to talk them out of trouble everytime they run into a german unit. where does he disappear to every once in a while with his big bag that is apparently full of gin?
the film is set against the arid landscapes and beautiful sand dunes of the african dessert. one of my favorite scenes in the film is when the driverless truck roars down a hill and alex mills gives chase while trying to climb onto it. the camera is placed on the side of the truck and we can see the others looking on i the background. it was a great hands on action scene.
the sweaty powerful bodies of the three men gleam in the sun. the beuatiful syvia syms as the nurse is noble and silent amidst the three men, though she does let herself go towards the end. ANTHONY QUAYLE is particularly good as the tall and powerful afrikaner (?) solider. JOHN MILLS as captain anson could be one of those desperate characters out of a GRAHAM GREENE novel, always longing for the next drink, without all the catholic guilt of course.
the film surprisingly has a happy ending unlike WAGES OF FEAR or SORCERER.
i would love to read the book now.
(8/10)
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Post by OldAussie on Dec 21, 2018 7:56:18 GMT
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Post by telegonus on Dec 21, 2018 8:50:37 GMT
Excellent film, and the actors are brilliant. The movie offers a well rounded group of characters and types, and it keeps the human drama, well, very human. One can't help but feel upbeat after watching Ice Cold In Alex. Thanks for writing about it.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 21, 2018 14:06:38 GMT
five years after WAGES OF FEAR, another great man against nature film. this one is set in north africa during the second world war. a couple of army personnel and two nurses are to travel across the dessert while battling bombers and potential minefields before they reach british lines. an afrikaner soldier joins them on the way. the whole film is about how they overcome different hurdles. first a potential minefiled with the captain and the afrikaner soldier walking slowly in front of the truck to thwart any mines. the director steps in and shows us the truck barely missing a mine, which none of the characters are aware of. they run across german units on the way even as one of the nurses die from a bullet wound. the captain only wants to reach ALEX where an ice cold beer is waiting for him at the bar. soon, they grow suspicious of the german solider who manages to talk them out of trouble everytime they run into a german unit. where does he disappear to every once in a while with his big bag that is apparently full of gin?
the film is set against the arid landscapes and beautiful sand dunes of the african dessert. one of my favorite scenes in the film is when the driverless truck roars down a hill and alex mills gives chase while trying to climb onto it. the camera is placed on the side of the truck and we can see the others looking on i the background. it was a great hands on action scene.
the sweaty powerful bodies of the three men gleam in the sun. the beuatiful syvia syms as the nurse is noble and silent amidst the three men, though she does let herself go towards the end. ANTHONY QUAYLE is particularly good as the tall and powerful afrikaner (?) solider. JOHN MILLS as captain anson could be one of those desperate characters out of a GRAHAM GREENE novel, always longing for the next drink, without all the catholic guilt of course.
the film surprisingly has a happy ending unlike WAGES OF FEAR or SORCERER.
i would love to read the book now.
(8/10)
Hee, it's currently doing re-runs on British cable chans and only the other day my old man was complaining that it "was only on the other day and it's on again already", to which he sat there and watched it again! Great film, classic acting values on show. Fitzcarraldo had his ship, Captain Anson had his ambulance first.
Ice-Cold in Alex is directed by J. Lee Thompson and is based on the novel of the same name written by Christopher Landon. The latter of which co-writes the screenplay with T.J. Morrison. It stars John Mills, Sylvia Syms, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews. Leighton Lucas provides the music and Gilbert Taylor photographs in black and white.
World War II and the British base at Tobruk, Libya, is attacked by the German Afrika Korps. During the evacuation 4 personnel are tasked with the mission to drive an ambulance across the desert back to British lines in Alexandria in Egypt. Captain Anson (Mills), MSM Tom Pugh (Andrews), Nurse Diana Murdoch (Syms) and Nurse Denise Norton (Diane Clare) are the four people in question, soon to be joined by a South African officer, Captain van der Poel (Quayle). Poel seems shifty, but his physicality and supply of Gin will no doubt be handy on this arduous trip. And arduous it will prove, as the elements, Germans and inner conflict will all test the group to the limit.
It falls under the war movie banner, but the truth is that Ice-Cold in Alex is a different sort of animal. The core of Landon's story is to observe how a different group of characters cope in the face of mental and physical hardships. The war and the desert landscapes form the backdrop, but this is in essence a character study where the characters are defined by their actions. Thankfully the group of actors on show are able to turn in great shows to not let the slow structure of the film be a hindrance. Mills and Quayle especially bring a dynamic to their characters, drawing the viewer into the desert with them in the process. A number of quality scenes stand out in the picture, be it involving quicksand or trying to get "Katy" the ambulance over a hill, the tension mounts and the film never wants for effective drama. While the finale crowns the picture in a wave of humanistic collectedness. 8/10
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