Daniel Britten The interplay between the 3 groups of allied soldiers, the stiff upper lipped British colonel,the independent Canadian major (Hudson) and the German Jews is interesting, if bordering on slightly racist at times. But then that's the point. Political correctness would prevent such a point being made nowadays, but it brings out the fact that the so-called allies were often allied in name only, and the fact that anti-semitism was more widespread than people realize. The fraught relationship between Green and Hudson adds an extra frisson, and is very reminiscent of that between William Holden and Jack Hawkins in Bridge on the River Quai.Pity all of this had to take second place at the end to lots of standard WW2 heroics and blowing up. One more thing - it's not Dean Stockwell. It's Guy, his lesser-known brother.

Theo Robertson Often when I see a fondly remembered war film from my childhood I am bitterly disappointed by it as an adult . Not so with TOBRUCK which I recently saw again a few months ago . The explosive action scenes hold up very well today as long as you don't compare them to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN or BLACK HAWK DOWN but this is a film from 40 years ago . Imagine how effective they must have been on its original release . And aren't they fairly graphic ? So much so that I noticed some of the violence had been edited for its afternoon showing on Scottish Television One thing I hadn't noticed as a child is how complex the narrative is or smart the dialogue is . There's a couple of subplots one of which is a traitor in the group and of a couple of Nazi sympathisers with documents who want to contact the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in order to bring the Muslim world on to the side of Nazi Germany . Interstingly enough the Nazis were pro Muslim and had at least two Waffen SS divisions composed of Bosnian s and Albanians . In narrative terms the screenplay is not in any way crowded with these two subplots As for the dialogue it switches from comic relief as in: " what you doing with your fingers in your ears ? " " I can't stand the sight of blood " "Close your eyes then " " But I want to see what's going on " through to the serious and philosophical: " I've heard it said there's a bit of a Jew in all of us " " Ja and there's a bit of the Nazi as well " You could be very pedantic and state that the German tanks are in fact American tanks dating from the 1950s but every war film from this period suffers from this flaw and very few are as intelligent or complex as TOBRUCK

M Perry That subgenre being the war movie about a small group of specialist soldiers - "commandos" - who pull off a daring raid, with lots of drama and personality conflicts - these days they're called "special operators." And it's the sort of war picture they sure don't make any more. Pity, in a way. In this screenplay it's the Long Range Desert Group, based on a legendary North Africa force, plus a bunch of German Jews out to confound the Nazis and use their contribution as leverage to achieve nationhood in Palestine -no, Israel!, as George Peppard brusquely corrects Rock Hudson. Which is what gives this movie a very interesting historical dimensions, bringing in as it does, along with Rommel and the Desert War, or course, the meddling of the Grand Mufti, Arab affinities for Nazism, and the struggle for Israel as the Holocaust goes on in Europe. Note the movie was made in '67 - Six-Day War anyone? The premise of the commandos masquerading as Afrika Korps I found a bit much, though. Also much mirth garnered by the use of all-American trucks and tanks (a lot of them post- WWII) for German, Italian, British - I noticed the California National Guard got a big credit at the end. The Grumman Goose was a cute touch, too. At least they got most of the guns right - but the P-40 was good, the right type for the time and place. Also a nice touch to have Rock Hudson play as a Canadian, not an American. And get a load of Dean Stockwell. And there was some pretty good camera work and some clever crane and dolly shots, too. For all its flaws and preposterous elements, and for being a bit of a period piece, it is a most entertaining picture, and lots of stuff blows up.

mm-39 After an unpleasant birthday party for my future father in law, my girl friend and I went to my house to watch tv. On A&E they had this interesting WW 2 movie. I do not know how realistic it is, but it sure has an entertaining story. Undercover German Jews, British special forces, and a mole have too execute a black bag operation. Pretty cool, to watch George Peppard run around with a flame thrower. Not the usually sloppy acting for a 60's ww 2 movie. 7/10