bkoganbing Rope Of Sand is one of those films that as Burt Lancaster said he did for the poke. It's a routine action/adventure film that some have said is a Casablanca reunion. Also it was Corinne Calvet's first American feature.But besides Lancaster and Calvet the cast includes Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, and Paul Henreid. Rains is playing his role as a diamond magnate as if Captain Renaud had retired from the army and went to South Africa to make his fortune in diamonds. Rains is the elegant sophisticated head of a diamond cartel and for amusement he likes to manipulate people. Lorre plays a kinder, gentler version of Ugarte I doubt he would murder two German couriers for letters of transit, but he might pick their pockets. But Paul Henreid is as about as far away from the courageous anti-Nazi freedom fighter Victor Laszlo as you can get. He's the brutal commandant of the diamond police. Yes the Union of South Africa did have such an outfit with police powers to protect one of the country's most valuable resources for the nation and most assuredly for the mine owners. You'll see this also in Sands Of The Kalahari and Gold, both films set in apartheid South Africa as this was.Lancaster plays a guide who finds a cache of diamonds and gets a beating at the hands of Henreid and his storm troopers. Rains would like to get his hands on the diamonds also and cut Henreid out as he personally can't stand him, but he's useful on occasion. After Calvet who plays a prostitute tries the old badger game on him unsuccessfully Rains hires her to work on Lancaster to divulge his secret. She also goes to work on Henreid as well.But as what usually happens Burt's charming ways get to her all leading to an inevitable climax about her and the diamonds.The title Rope Of Sand refers to the desert surrounding where the diamond mines are. It's a decent enough action adventure film made more enjoyable by a great cast of the best supporting players around.

MartinHafer Burt Lancaster returns to Angola after a two year absence. It seems he had previously wandered onto property owned by a diamond mining concern and when the boss (Paul Henreid) learns that Lancaster found diamonds, he beats him within an inch of his life--but learns nothing. Now Lancaster is back....and there is a lot of talking and posturing before much of anything happens.A bunch of the reviewers seemed to like this film, but I couldn't help thinking it could have been a lot better. After all, with Burt Lancaster, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre and Paul Henreid, I expected a lot. In addition, while the story had a lot of action and violence, it seemed amazingly uninvolving. I attribute much of this to the character played by Lancaster. He was full of needless macho posturing--and none of it really made any sense. Think about it---after nearly getting killed two years earlier for wandering into an Angolan diamond company's property, he now returns and makes sure EVERYONE sees him--especially the guy responsible for maiming him! What idiot would just waltz back in such a hostile and dangerous place?!?! Later, when he and the baddie have their big showdown, Lancaster holds a loaded .45 on Henreid--and empties the gun so they can fistfight like real men! And, oops...Henreid is able to get away!! Talk about great planning and needless macho heroics! Plus, it seemed weird seeing Henreid playing a guy who can beat up Lancaster in a fight!! As a result, the film has some mildly interesting scenes but it never makes a lot of sense.By the way, if you wonder why Lorre is in the film, I have no idea either--and I saw this film! It's the case of a good actor with nothing particular to do and no apparent motivation just aimlessly bouncing about in a movie.

dbdumonteil Slow-moving adventures yarn,with a shaky script ,sometimes looking towards "Casablanca".I do not think,like the precedent user that Henreid 's character is in love with Lancaster's,but if one can go as far as to say that ,it's because of the lack of a strong female counterpart:Corinne Calvet is not Ingrid Bergman ,by a long shot.This story,which revolves around diamonds which Lancaster hid somewhere -And Henreid lets his sadism flow to get these "girl's best friend" as Marylin would say".Peter Lorre and Claude Rains are almost wasted in predictable parts,and the plot meanders in the implausibilities (Calvet charged with murder,for instance).The best scene remains the fight Lancaster/Henreid in the desert:the desolate landscape is almost lunar ,and the violence very intense for the time.It's not one of the best Dieterle I've seen though.

Anne_Sharp This is a film of considerable charm and interest, a postwar noir updating of the Warner Bros. "Casablanca"-style foreign intrigue routine that substitutes a refreshing toughness for the earlier films' cotton-candy romanticism. As usual, the stalwart leading man plays second fiddle to the character roles. Claude Rains takes his wry-and-witty routine to the level of sublime high camp, Peter Lorre purrs lyrical philosophy in a rumpled linen suit and three-day beard, and Paul Henried does much better as the arrogant, sadistic villain (reminiscent of Ronald Merrick in "Jewel in the Crown") than he ever did as a leading man. There's even subtle criticism of the apartheid system thrown in. What could have been a minor classic and certainly the best of the "Casablanca" clones is severely compromised however by the presence of Corinne Calvet, whose ferret face and rusty-hinge voice make a potentially pleasurable film difficult to watch, let alone enjoy.