The Desert Rats (film)

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The Desert Rats
Directed by	Robert Wise
Produced by	Robert L. Jacks
Written by	Richard Murphy
Starring	Richard Burton Robert Newton Robert Douglas Torin Thatcher Chips Rafferty Charles 'Bud' Tingwell
Music by	Leigh Harline
Cinematography	Lucien Ballard
Editing by	Barbara McLean
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	May 8, 1953
Running time	88 min.
Country	United States
Language	English/German
Preceded by	The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
IMDb profile

The Desert Rats is a 1953 war film starring Richard Burton and Robert Douglas directed by Robert Wise. It features a cameo appearance by James Mason as General Erwin Rommel.

1 Plot
2 History
3 Misleading title
4 See Also
5 External link

[edit] Plot

Rommel has Allied forces in retreat as he attempts to make his way to the Suez Canal.

A company of newly arrived and very undisciplined Australian troops are part of the defence of Tobruk, and a tough artillery officer, Captain Tammy MacRoberts (Richard Burton) is put in command of them.

Gradually gaining the confidence of the soldiers, he leads his troops on daring commando-style raids against Rommel's base, losing many soldiers in the process, but keeping the Germans off-balance. Eventually, they are relieved by fresh Allied troops. The bravery of the soldiers earns them the nickname 'The Desert Rats'.

A sub-plot involves MacRobert's relationship with a former school teacher of his, Tom Bartlett (Robert Newton), now an infantry soldier under his command and an alcoholic. He attempts to have Bartlett transferred to a safer posting, but Bartlett insists on staying out of loyalty to his mates.

Because it was a prequel to the 1951 motion picture The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel, this is actually the second film in which James Mason plays the German general. In contrast to the earlier film, Rommel is portrayed sarcastically and somewhat unsympathetically in The Desert Rats. And perhaps because of this, he is also played with a thick German accent, as opposed to the way he was played in The Desert Fox.

[edit] History

The film is based on the Australian 9th infantry division, who were charged with the defence of Tobruk under the command of General Leslie Morshead. Hoping to survive against overwhelming odds for two months, the garrison held off the best of Rommel's Afrika Korps for over eight months.

[edit] Misleading title

The title of the film is quite misleading. The 'Desert Rats' were actually the British 7th Armoured Division, the name coming from their Jerboa shoulder flash. The Australian 9th Division besieged at Tobruk were denigrated as being "caught like rats in a trap" by German propaganda, the Australians calling themselves the 'Rats of Tobruk' with pride as a result.