What a waste of my time!!!

Truly Dreadful Film

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Yet another drama that focuses on the futility of war in the desert, "Taxi for Tobruk" presents viewers with some rousing action and a marvelous music score (which was later swiped by Michel LeGrand for a similar movie, "Play Dirty"). Although routinely directed and inclined to be talky, the film does have a fair degree of special appeal for people like me who like to see movies that present characters that are way different from the norm. We critics get damn tired of seeing the same characters over and over and over - even if the plot lines are slightly different and the actors strive not to totally repeat the same old characterizations. In this particular case, for instance, the lead characters bungle their way along. Now, that's different! And even better, they actually develop an uneasy camaraderie with their German prisoner.

TAXI FOR TOBRUK 1961This World War Two film is set in North Africa during late summer 1942. The stars are, Lino Ventura, Maurice Biraud, German Cobos, Charles Aznavour and Hardy Kruger. A group of Free French Commandos are making their way back to Allied lines after a raid on a German fuel depot. They end up stranded in the middle of nowhere after their truck is destroyed by a German aircraft. They decide to attempt to walk the several hundred miles to the coast. They have no food, and very little water. As luck would have it, the Free French happen upon a small German patrol camped out for the night. They rush the Germans and kill all but the officer, Hardy Kruger. The French now have transport, water, food and a prisoner. They set off for El Alamein to hook up with the British forces. Over the radio they hear that the British have launched a counter attack, and the German and Italian forces are withdrawing. They now decide to head for Tobruk, figuring the British will be there by the time their group hits the coast.The trip though is not without a series of hic-ups. The men need to take a long detour to avoid a large section of soft sand. The truck would not be able to cross the less than friendly terrain. The detour though would use up a fair portion of the remaining petrol. Kruger points out an oasis where the Germans have a fuel depot. Out of other options, the French decide to give it a go.Ventura, a boxer in civilian life, gives the German, Kruger, a solid punch to the jaw, rendering him horizontal. The men then don a few German hats etc and pay a visit to said fuel dump. The visit is a success and the men score fuel and water. Off again across the desert for Tobruk they head.Needless to say Kruger is not happy with his sore jaw once he comes to. There is another hic-up when the group is nearly blown to hell by a night-time air raid on a nearby German convoy. The truck becomes stuck in a hole and all are busy digging the vehicle out. Just as they finish, Kruger jumps in the driver's seat and heads off leaving the Frenchmen behind. He does return shortly, but this time he has all the weapons. The Free French are now the prisoners. Of course this does not last long, as fatigue soon catches up with Kruger and sleep hits him. With the French back in charge it is back in the truck as a prisoner. Off for Tobruk again they head. Again there is a problem for them to overcome. There is a minefield they must navigate through. One of the Frenchmen treads on a mine and is seriously wounded.With the wounded man in the back, they are now only 15 miles from Allied lines. Needless to say the bad luck continues when the vehicle runs into a British recon patrol. The British see Kruger wearing his German cap and open fire. All except Ventura are killed.The film then jumps to the victory parade in Paris after the war. Ventura is standing in the crowd thinking back to his experience in North Africa.This is a pretty good film with nice work from the entire cast and crew. The film, made in Spain, feature several authentic German tanks and the Spanish (Merlin engine) version of a ME-109.

Un taxi pour Tobrouk was one of the very first war movies I watched as a child, and I was impressed with the depth of the characters that were portrayed in it. No stereotypes here; just a movie about an unlikely band of people, trying to survive in the dessert. One thing that I will never forget, (please do not count it as a spoiler!!!) is when the French soldiers discuss about what they should do with their prisoner, and they say that "you should kill them before you get the chance to know them". If that does not portrait the madness of war, then I wonder, what is? Others have already written a lot about the plot, so I will not go into details. All I can say is that it is bad that this movie is not available on a subtitled version, for all of us, the poor people who do not know French, to buy.

Story takes place during 1942 in the Libyan desert at the crucial battle in El Alamein, when the British finally defeated the German "Afrikakorps". But this is a French movie so it deals with the Free French troops who were fighting alongside the British.The basic storyline is quite simple : during a raid on a German supply dump, the French CO gets killed and the remaining members of the squad have to make their way back to friendly lines. Along the way they lose their patrol car but then capture an enemy truck, together with a German captain (Hardy Krüger).Lino Ventura, one of France's most famous actors, is the grumpy ex-prizefighter turned NCO (very close to his real-life personae). He was already a respected actor but this really launched him to French super-stardom. Also well-known singer Charles Aznavour co-stars, but movie's main reputation lies with its script and dialogues (a mix between comedy and tragedy) by Michel Audiard, who was the scriptwriter of countless other successful Frrench movie classics (usually starring JP Belmondo or Jean Gabin).This war movie may not so be well known outside of France, but up to this day it remains a true French classic. French public TV choose to air 'Taxi to Tobruk" on May the 1st this year, an important holiday in France.