I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The acting in this movie is really good.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Producer: Charles Brackett. Copyright 3 May 1943 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Paramount: 26 May 1943. U.S. release: 4 May 1943. Australian release: 30 September 1943. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward (Paramount's number one Australian showcase): 24 September 1943 (ran 4 weeks). 8,728 feet. 97 minutes. SYNOPSIS: British army corporal poses as a waiter at Rommel's headquarters.NOTES: A re-make of Hotel Imperial (1926) directed by Mauritz Stiller from a script by Jules Furthman, starring James Hall, Pola Negri and George Siegmann in the Tone, Baxter and Von Stroheim roles, respectively.COMMENT: From the very moment that Erich Von Stroheim strides on to the screen, we know we're in for a real treat in Five Graves to Cairo. Fortunately, this occurs quite early in the action. Just enough preparatory work is laid down by the screenwriters to whet our appetite. Von Stroheim enters at exactly the right moment and he stays with us until the action really comes to an end. True, there is an ironic little epilogue which neatly (if sadly) ties up a major plot strand, but otherwise this is Von Stroheim's movie, and he makes the most of it. The other players, particularly Peter Van Eyck, Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter lend excellent support. Von Stroheim's interpretation is, of course, miles removed from James Mason's in The Desert Fox (1951). Mason's Rommel comes over as a softie compared to the Von's far more powerful characterization. Fortunio Bonanova's self-admiring general griping about the way the Germans treat their Italian allies is a typical Billy Wilder creation, adding just the right touch of comic inanity to an fascinating and tautly suspenseful plot. Unfortunately, to my mind, Akim Tamiroff tends to overplay the cowardly proprietor of this Hotel Imperial, thus dissipating some of the atmosphere so carefully built up by Wilder's dramatically delineated compositions and Seitz's superbly lit cinematography. Nonetheless, extremely high production values, including a Rozsa score, effective locations, eye-catching sets, the intriguing title and clever plot, plus Eric Von Stroheim's gripping scene-hugging (though it must be admitted Tone stands up to him well enough) and Anne Baxter's surprisingly effective and most credible performance, more than compensate for any of the blubbering Tamiroff shortcomings.

I went into Five Graves to Cairo only knowing that this was Billy Wilder's attempt to make some pro-ally style war movie, and that it was one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite films - anyone with two eyes and ears can tell it's a big influence on Inglourious Basterds - and finally seeing it, it holds up, as far as it goes. It's not something that is reliant on a lot of battles or action in the sense one might expect from a lot of war films. The Tarantino connection is a lot thicker than one might expect; Wilder in 'Cairo' is all about mounting suspense and keeping up the rouse of Franchot Tone's JJ Bramble turned German spy turned English hotel waiter Paul Davros around a bunch of German officers occupying the hotel while planning an offensive maneuver in North Africa.Every moment is tense and taut when this man is around these officers, and while Tone is not the best or most expressive actor of his time he does enough for what the role and Wilder ask of him, giving some charm and personality to a character who has to be different things at different moments. Part of it also comes from who knows what piece of information, the fact that from the start some p-eople know more than others (as, in a fantastic opening that sets much of the tone, Bramble stumbles sun-baked into the hotel after leaving his blown-apart tank, and Tamiroff and Anne Baxter have to do their best to make sure the Germans don't see him behind the bar, which does get moved mid-scene), and that there is other stakes going on, like with Baxter's man in a prison camp.All the while, Wilder gives some wonderful scenes for Peter van Eyck, who's the Lieutenant overseeing the operation, and his commanding officer especially Erich von Stroheim. Von Stroheim is the strongest part of the film, as every time he gives this character dimension and presence, and how every line is delivered makes him a man who is clearly out to do his duty as a Nazi officer on the move towards Egypt (and those 'five graves', which becomes a plot point but isn't as important as seeing what the characters do about it), but is also a sort of a human villain, if that makes sense. I'd almost go as far as to say he makes this field Marshall cunning but also someone who you understand completely: he's doing his job the way he's been trained, and his ambition (some of his officers are astounded he wants to go as far as he plans, with salt shakers on a table demonstrating), and there's some of that same dimension he brought to Grand Illusion. We know he's the villain of the piece, but you can't take your eyes off of him from the moment he's on screen - and Wilder opens on him from behind his head giving orders! I don't know if Tamiroff came off the best here, as he is sort of one-note through most of the run time as the nervous nellie (over?)reacting to every little or big move. And it does still operate on the wave of it being made during the war, with the side clearly drawn (though, again, the Germans are made to not be simply automatic monsters, but people you are meant to understand their motivations, cruel as they end up being, like Rommel's 'papers in triplicate' command to Anne Baxter). But aside from that, it's a generally smart and intense film that relies all on character motivation and that dialog IS the plot, in a sense here. It's a bottle-movie as about 90% of it takes place indoors, but it doesn't operate like a play, despite it being adapted from one. And the ending, or denouement I should say, packs a good emotional wallop redeeming any slow moments.

This Early Billy Wilder Film (His second) is as Good as it is because Wilder and His Co-Writer, Charles Brackett, had Control of the Project. It's an Off-Beat, Propagandized War Movie with Strong Writing, Good Performances, and a Low-Key Lighting Atmosphere of Suspense and Intrigue.Heavily Scripted (Oscar Nomination for Adapted Screenplay), Witty, sometimes Humorous (although the Over-the-Top Caricatures are irritating and the worst part of the Movie). It's the Dialog that is Funny and Not the Buffoons Akim Tamiroff and Fortunio Bonanova. Anne Baxter is Solemn and Serious, and Franchot Tone is Serviceable but Unremarkable. It is Erich Von Stroheim that Steals the Show along with the Wilder and Brackett Screenplay. The Movie is Heavily Plotted for Maximum Enticement and Includes Cinematography that is just Right for the Setting.Pay Attention to the Dialog because that is where the Gems can be found. Some of it is Profound and some of it has an Underlying Brutality. Overall, Forgiven the sometimes Overly Patriotic and Propaganda Musings, the Film is Worth a Watch for Wilder, Brackett, and Stroheim. Slightly Overrated, but it is Certainly Different in a lot of respects and that makes it Slightly Special.

A really poor view of the events in North Africa during this time is presented in true Hollywood irrelevance. Rommel, of course was nothing like this portrayal given from Von Stroheim. The desert war was a remarkably clean one, given the period and executing hotel maids was not really one of Rommel's personal involvements at any given stage. The ludicrous plot centralizing on Tones spy role is more comedy than reality. Its a low score here for me as given the time, it would have been better to have portrayed some sense of fact than fiction. Flag waving manure as are so many for this period but this seems to be one that could have graduated above the rest. Had the effort been made. It failed.Avoid.