MovieChat Forums > Sahara (1943) Discussion > Frenchie's lunch

Frenchie's lunch

posted 19 years ago by CmdrCody
22 replies | jump to latest

Remember that little "bit" by Frenchie while they sit around on a break....his imaginary lunch. You know..." A little cheese, a little bread, a little wine, a little cheese, a little onion etc, etc etc" until Dan Dureya finally says, "Ah, cut it out! You've had enough."

Great stuff.

How 'bout Sgt. Tamboo describing how a Sudanese man has a happy married life with four wives while he collects the dripping water.

A great script with great actors. Hard to find these days.

Thanks for reading my remarks.

[–] rick33 19 years ago

And how 'bout Bogey's speech to get the others on board to fight it out.
One of my favorite parts. And also, when he's talking to the guy who wants to irrigate the whole desert, then gets shot. Great film.

rick33

[–] CmdrCody 19 years ago

Yeah...a great WWII movie.

I like how the producer tried to make a microcosm of the war out of the story of the men on the tank in the blazing desert. How soldiers from allied countries all came together to fight the Nazis, where ever they were from.

And how sometimes, the good guys had to make a stand in the middle of no-where...a place nobody could find on a map and nobody cared about...and probably would never hear about.

Great stuff!

[–] wiltaz69 19 years ago

Middle of nowhere but did you notice that the German Mechanized Battalion attacked on foot from the same direction every time? The first time I can see. Once you find the enemy you don't keep advancing straight towards his defenses. Movies always have the stupidest tactics. Never did the infantry just walk around to the other side of the ruins where the tank's 75mm couldn't fire. In fact the Allies never even defended the back side. Why? It wasn't in the script. The set wasn't finished back there I guess. It's like the front wall in a sitcom house, you can't go there because it doesn't exist. :)

[–] CmdrCody 18 years ago

wiltaz69: You're right, of course. The Germans would have worked their way around on both sides until the whole wadi was surrounded...and then close in with all guns blazing.

But...Bogey was destined to win this one, so the soldaten had to act stupid, like they usually do in American war pictures.

CmdrCody

[–] telsono 17 years ago

The tactical position was not played out right as you have stated, but there were other items not really realistic. That first German charge should have be more bloody. The effects of that 75mm gun was devastating to infantry in a closely packed formations. At least half of the German battalion would have been casualties after the first attack, but that also would not have made the movie's story any better.

[–] Wakanohana 15 years ago

Wiltaz69 wrote: "did you notice that the German Mechanized Battalion attacked on foot from the same direction every time? The first time I can see. Once you find the enemy you don't keep advancing straight towards his defenses. Movies always have the stupidest tactics. Never did the infantry just walk around to the other side of the ruins where the tank's 75mm couldn't fire. In fact the Allies never even defended the back side."

We do not see the terrain on all sides, so we do not know what barriers there might have been that preventing a flanking action. But Sergeant Gunn (Bogart) sized up the situation and assumed (correctly) that the Germans would come from one direction.

The Germans were already weakened from thirst, and not likely to be capable of evaluating the situation calmly and rationally. This was supposed to be a battalion, but reduced to only 200 men or so... so perhaps many or most of the officers and NCOs had been casualties in previous engagements. What was left was not a very functional unit.

Perhaps the major who negotiated under a flag of truce was the only senior officer and he might not have had any experience attacking a fortified position. Or perhaps he was so over-confident that he thought a frontal attack would succeed and there was no need to take the time to plan a flanking move.

Sergeant Gunn was the tank commander. Only a sergeant, but after the British, South African, and Somali soldiers put themselves Gunn's command -- including the British medical officer -- the Somali sergeant major could hardly pull rank. Possession being 9/10 etc., possession of a tank grants certain privileges to the tank commander, especially if he acts as if he knows what he's doing.

[–] nimstic 11 years ago

I agree with you. They were thirsty men with a target to somehow get to the water. They couldn't surround and start attacking. All they had in mind was to reach up and take the water. That was the whole point of the plan. The director Zoltan Korda was a WW commander himself. It is quite unlikely that he would fool people because he couldn't prepare a set on the other side. Jeez. I think we sometimes analyze movies too much. They were plain movies back then, real performances, real people, real sets unlike today's technology enabled scenes. So much hardwork & determination went in there. Give them their due credit.

Sahara to me is one of the finest film I have ever seen. This film is so rich with beautiful scenes and touching characters that such details didn't bother me.

God, what beautiful scenes. The bet, the Italian's addition to the group, the german strafer's escape, the Oasis, Bogey's clever plan, the Frenchie's lunch, the bathing scene, the Nazi's ruthless negotiations (did you notice that tension?), the American who went looking for the British army and last but not the least, Bogey himself.

[–] atrpm 18 years ago

I've always loved that part of this, my favorite movie. (Ain't no accountin' fer taste, folks.) What really gets me about Tamboo and the water, however, is this: imagine white guys drinking water that had passed over a black man's hand in 1943. In that sense, this movie was a groundbreaker. Long live equality!

[–] CmdrCody 18 years ago

atrpm: What a great insight! That never occurred to me. Thanks for spotting that little part of the movie with Sgt. Tamboo. Now it's a richer experience for me. Thanks.

CmdrCody

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mcordner 18 years ago

Holy Moses he's right. Damn, that's a good one atrpm.

[–] defiant-10 18 years ago

Tiny-minded bigots never have been the majority, although they all too-often do think they're in power. Only further testament to the tinyness of their minds.
To practiced, successful military men, Tambul's rank of sergeant and 20 years of service would have obviated his melanin level.
Isn't it equally stereotypical -even if accurate- that the only bigot we see is the captured Nazi pilot?

What I had in mind was boxing the compass.

[–] njaco5552 17 years ago

Which is kind of interesting and understandable given the time it was filmed. Luftwaffe officers were not allowed to be members of a political party and therefore couldn't have been a Nazi. Some of the most famous pilots were part Jewish at the time. But it doesn't take away the enjoyment of the movie for me. How about Lloyd Bridges and the accent? Can anyone name the other desert movie with Dan Dureya about several people stuck together? Think James Stewart.

[–] defiant-10 17 years ago

I suppose you're referring to that hideous grinder, "The Flight of the Phoenix", whose claim to infamy was costing us Paul Mantz.

What I had in mind was boxing the compass.

[–] Bob_Zerunkel 12 years ago

Nope. He's thinking of cowboys and Indians and a rifle that was one in a thousand.

[–] CmdrCody 16 years ago

Where did you come up with that idea ? I would think the head Luftwaffe guy, Fatso Goring, would invalidate that claim. How about Field Marshal Kesselring and Stuka ace Hans Rudel ?

CmdrCody

[–] pathfinder616 16 years ago

Great observation and thread! My thoughts as I watched this scene were similar. Bogart (a lower ranking officer technically) orders Sgt. Major Tambul down the water whole and as he descends I'm thinking what a creepy place to be sent until he reaches the bottom and finds the water dripping. Then I realize that he actually ends up in the best place of all as it was probably cooler, wet, and he had access to more water than the others. We see Tambul licking water off his hands as you observed. Tambul is visited in a later scene by a fellow soldier (I forget which) who offers to take his place at this 'chore' but Tambul politely refuses with a big smile. I loved this scene also. As it is another rare rich equality moment in 1940s cinema. The dialogue is racially educational as is the scene itself. The US armed forces was still quite racially tense and the horrors of combatting a common enemy side by side as equals lessened this tension. We see this theme in many modern Vietnam era films like Hamburger Hill but this is one of the first times in cinema we see a black soldier fighting with and killing an evil white (Nazi)soldier. The final thumbs up by Tambul I'm sure had the audeniences cheering.
This also is a powerful scene filled with racial messages.

[–] SidekickinWhiteFury 16 years ago

Enjoyed the bread/ cheese and wine scene.
I also enjoyed Giuseppe's speech at the end.
It's preachy, but remember what Frenchy said:
"This is a Nazi. It's like a mad dog. Maybe you find out."
He had seen first hand what the Nazi's were capable of,
and had come to the correct conclusion that the only thing
you can do with a mad dog is kill it.

Denounce me then!
Italians are not like Germans.
Only the body wears the uniform and not the soul.
Mussolini is not so clever like Hitler.
He can dress his Italians up only to look like
thieves, cheats, murderers, he cannot
like Hitler make them feel like that.
He cannot like Hitler scrape from the conscience the knowledge
right is right and wrong is wrong. Or to dig holes in
their heads and to plant his own ten commandments.
steal from thy neighbor, cheat thy neighbor, kill thy neighbor.
(You dare to insult the Fuhrer?!)
That would take an artist, I am but a mechanic.
But are my eyes blind that I must fall to my knees
to worship a maniac who has made of my country a
concentration camp, who has made of my people slaves?
Must I kiss the hand that beats me, lick the boot
that kicks me? No!
I rather spend my whole life living in this dirty hole, then to escape
and fight again for things I do not believe. Against people I do not hate.
And for your Hitler, it's because of men like him, that God, my God
created hell!

[–] jtr_erwin_rommel 16 years ago

Awesome transcript. VERY preachy, but perfect for 1943.

As for the 'equallity' that oozes out of this movie, I would have to say that it was a situational thing. The world was beset by the most horrific force ever seen (NAZI Germany) and the rest of the 'free' world decided to crush them. They were not certain of victory, but they did their best to get everyone (including Colonial Africa) to pull together to stop this threat. Hell, we even got the Soviets to jump in with the effort!

Tamboo seemed to break the social norms, but he was a victim of circumstances. This was a propaganda film made when the war was not a foregone conclusion. All the Allies (including the recently 'liberated' Italians) were portrayed as strong, friendly people who sought only to bring good and purity to a world covered in the grime of facism (soon to be communism). That is what people at home (America, Canada, Great Britain, etc.) wanted to believe anyway. This movie does exactlly that. There was little concern over how the black-man was treated or treaed his fellow soldiers, it was all about survival against an unstopable enemy.

The actor who played Tamboo was wonderful and the script excellent for the period.

PS. That was the cleanest Luftwaffe uniform, after a crash in the desert, I've ever seen.

[–] zaraath 10 years ago

That was the cleanest Luftwaffe uniform, after a crash in the desert, I've ever seen.

He was wearing overalls over the uniform at first.

[–] pathfinder616 11 years ago

@atrpm: yes, i agree. great insight into this film. let's also point out that it was the black man who was responsible for knowing of, leading them to and ultimately finding the water hole. without the Somali sergeant they all would have died of thirst. he is also responsible for killing the escaping Nazi pilot whom, had he reached the German battalion would have ruined their defensive strategy of 'water for guns'.

"We deal in lead, friend."

[–] franzkabuki 11 years ago

Too bad these "imaginary lunches" have become such an annoying, everpresent cliche in war movies or movies depicting low-calory captivity over time that it kind of made me groan when that Froggie started up with his restaurant schtick. Just f-cking skip it the next around, k?

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan