Rope of Sand

Rope of Sand

Theatrical release poster
Directed by William Dieterle
Produced by Hal B. Wallis
Screenplay by Walter Doniger
Additional dialogue:
John Paxton
Story by Walter Doniger
Starring Burt Lancaster
Paul Henreid
Claude Rains
Peter Lorre
Music by Franz Waxman
Cinematography Charles Lang
Edited by Warren Low
Production
company
Wallis-Hazen
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • August 3, 1949 (1949-08-03) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Afrikaans

Rope of Sand is a 1949 adventure-suspense film noir produced by Hal Wallis and directed by William Dieterle. Set in South West Africa, the film stars Wallis contract star Burt Lancaster and three stars from Wallis's Casablanca; Paul Henreid, Claude Rains and Peter Lorre. The film introduces Corinne Calvet, and features Sam Jaffe, John Bromfield and Kenny Washington in supporting roles.[1] Desert portions of the film were shot in Yuma, Arizona.

Plot

Hunting guide Mike Davis (Burt Lancaster) comes across a cache of diamonds in a remote region of South West Africa, but refuses to reveal its location even under torture at the hand of the diamond company's security chief, Vogel.

When Davis returns to find the diamonds he's hidden away, the company's owner, Martingale (Claude Rains), tries a different tactic by hiring a beautiful woman, Suzanne Renaud (Corinne Calvet), to seduce Davis and find out where the diamonds can be found. Davis meanwhile plans an illegal entry into the diamond mining area to retrieve the diamonds and plans to escape to Portuguese Angola.

Cast

Background

According to the Paramount Collection at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) library, the desert sequences were shot in Yuma, Arizona.[2]

Reception

Critical response

Film critic Glenn Erickson reflected on the background of the film and how it was received when first released, "A polished production on all technical levels, the gritty Rope of Sand was filmed from a screenplay purchased by producer Wallis specifically for Burt Lancaster in 1947. Although William Dieterle's direction is capable, the script works too hard to introduce an overly familiar collection of stock thriller types ... Critics generally liked Lancaster's performance, even if they slighted the work of Claude Rains and Peter Lorre and saved the bulk of their praise for Paul Henried's nasty villain. Lancaster's own assessment of the film was unprintable, but he was quoted at a time when he was itching to move on to more interesting roles.[3]

Accolades

Nominated

References

  1. Rope of Sand/ Rope of Sand at the Internet Movie Database.
  2. TCM Movie Database. Notes Section (TCM web site in collaboration with the American Film Institute). Accessed: July 21, 2013.
  3. Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson. DVD Savant, film/DVD review, March 27, 2011. Accessed: July 21, 2013.

Streaming audio

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