Desert Victory

Apr 12, 1943

1h 0m

★ 6.0

The most terrifying scenes ever taken under fire!

Overview

A featureless land fit only for war, as the narrator, J. L. Hodson stated in the early scenes: "If war was to be fought then let it begin here". In endless miles of rock-strewn scrub desert, where civilians hardly existed. Desert Victory tells the story of the Allied campaign to drive Germany and Italy from North Africa is analysed, with the major portion of the film examining the battles at El Alamein, including some re-enactment. Won "Best Documentary Feature" at the 16th Academy Awards in 1944.

Genres

War

Documentary

Production Companies

The Army Film & Photographic Unit

Royal Air Force Film Production Unit

British Army Film Unit

Army Film Unit

Desert Victory Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self (archive footage)

Harold Alexander

Self (archive footage)

Winston Churchill

Self (archive footage)

Adolf Hitler

Self (archive footage)

Bernard L. Montgomery

Self (archive footage)

Erwin Rommel

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Claude Auchinleck

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Alan Brooke

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Alan Cunningham

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Joseph Goebbels

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Henry Harwood

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

J.L. Hodson

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Arthur Tedder

A dramatized account of the French Resistance, this wartime film depicts how railway workers sabotaged German trains to disrupt troop movements and supply lines during the Nazi occupation. Blending documentary realism with fiction, it pays tribute to the courage and sacrifice of ordinary workers who became central to the fight for liberation.

7.5

First Blood

Oct 22, 1982

When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.

6.8

In Which We Serve

Sep 17, 1942

The story of the HMS Torrin, from its construction to its sinking in the Mediterranean during action in World War II. The ship’s first and only commanding officer is Captain E.V. Kinross, who trains his men not only to be loyal to him and the country, but—most importantly—to themselves.

5.0

Daughters of China

Jan 2, 1949

Women play a heroic role in the Volunteer Army fighting the Japanese in the puppet state of Manchukuo.

0.0

Two Peasants

Mar 13, 1955

The struggle of two Serbian peasants to choose between love of their families and love of their country.

6.2

My Life for Ireland

Jan 2, 1941

A Nazi propaganda movie from 1941 directed by Max W. Kimmich, covering a story of Irish heroism and martyrdom over two generations under the occupation of the British.

8.0

Springtime in Budapest

Apr 2, 1955

At Christmas Eve in 1944 the runaway Pintér and Gozsó get through the Soviet blockade around Budapest. Pintér intends to hide in a flat abandoned by his own relatives, but he finds his relatives called the Turnovszkys, who are hiding the Jewish Jutka as well. Love unfolds between Zoltán and Jutka.

6.2

The Concert

May 4, 1954

Celebrating the end of World War II and liberation of their city, a group of students is set on holding a cultural evening. They invite Ema, a reclusive piano teacher from the same building, to play for them. Ema declines, but starts reminscing back on her own life and the historical events that have seemingly overshadowed it.

8.0

Rome, Open City

Oct 8, 1945

During the Nazi occupation of 1944 Rome, Resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi is pursued by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a means of escape.

5.0

The Blood Road

Feb 14, 1955

Yugoslav Partizans, captured by Nazis, are sent to concentration camps in distant Norway. The local population help some Partizans survive or flee to neutral Sweden.

6.1

The North Star

Nov 4, 1943

A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941. Later re-edited and released as "Armored Attack."

6.7

Fan-Fan the Tulip

Mar 20, 1952

Fanfan is a young handsome peasant. He joins the army to escape marriage because a gypsy girl predicted he will get glory and the king's daughter as a wife. But the gypsy girl was in fact Adeline, the daughter of the recruiting officer. Once he has discovered the stratagem, Fanfan refuses to forget this dream and decides to fulfill the destiny of the fake prediction.

0.0

The Sixth Continent

Sep 4, 1954

This 95-minute, full-color documentary was released in the U.S. as Sixth Continent. That continent is Africa -- or, more specifically, the coast of Ethiopia. Director Folco Quillici takes his cameras deep, deep into the waters near the coastal islands of Dalach, observing the passing parade of sea life on an up-close-and-personal basis. Particularly thrilling is a shark attack and its aftermath, with the cinematographers obviously in the thick of things. Gian Caspare Napolitano provides the narration, while the lush, evocative musical score is the handiwork of Roberto Nicolosi.

6.9

A Generation

Jan 26, 1955

Stach is a wayward teen living in squalor on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Guided by an avuncular Communist organizer, he is introduced to the underground resistance—and to the beautiful Dorota. Soon he is engaged in dangerous efforts to fight oppression and indignity, maturing as he assumes responsibility for others’ lives. A coming-of-age story of survival and shattering loss, A Generation delivers a brutal portrait of the human cost of war.

5.0

Port Arthur

Dec 7, 1936

Espionage, war and romance in the Far East in 1904: Russian naval officer Boris Ranewsky marries Youki, the sister of a fanatical Japanese officer, but war is imminent.

0.0

The Steel Hearts

May 10, 1948

In occupied Silesia, resistance is organizing. In close contact with the miners and led by an engineer, a group of partisans prepare the sabotage of the steel combine. The going will be tough as the place is closely guarded by the Nazis. But despite a denunciation from a traitor and several violent deaths, they get going and the operation is a success. But the Red Army is approaching and now the coal production must not be sabotaged anymore. On the contrary, the partisans must prevent the Germans from destroying the steel mill and the coal mine...

0.0

The Gold and Silver River Band

Jan 1, 1953

No overview available.

0.0

Steel Soldier

Sep 1, 1950

The film shows a soldier - the defender of his people, his native land, convinced of the righteousness of the cause for which he is fighting, not sparing his life, longing to free his homeland for work and a peaceful life.

0.0

Pierwsze dni

Mar 4, 1952

An old worker secures the future of his steel mill during the war.

0.0

Victory of Mongolian People

Mar 17, 1951

No overview available.