Bitter Victory (1958)

 Along with 'Wind Across the Everglades' which came out the same year and 'The Savage Innocents' which came out in 1960, 'Bitter Victory' is part of Nicholas Ray's "location trilogy", grouling shoots afar a field resulting in films of mixed reputation.

Adapted (losley?) from the French novel of the same name and set in North Africa during the Second World War, it tells the story of a group of British imperial solders who successfuly raid intellegence information from a German headquarters, but find returning to safety across the Libyan desert to have a high attrition rate.

Central to the story is a love triangle between Richard Burton, Ruth Roman and Curd Jurgans. Burton and Roman had been lovers before the war, Ruth's now husband Jurgans finds out about it and dosen't like it. The two men are to lead the mission together, Jurgans a major is the superior officer, but Burton an archeologist before the war knows the country and speaks the language. Burton brings an old friend and bedoin guide along (Raymond Pellegrin) and director Ray did intend the homosexual subtext in that relationship, a bit daring for the time.

The most puzzling thing about the film is the casting of the German Jurgans as leader of the Allied solders; he could only mask his accent so much so they made his character South African as a sort of cover. Still one of the chief pleasures of the film is when Jurgans and Burton harp on each other, the career military man shows some cowardice in the field and is bailed out by the intellectual enlistie, who won't let him forget it 

The film looks beautiful, a sharp black and white in wide cinemascope it soaks up the desert and some local flavor when the team is in Bengazi. I really enjoyed the score by Frenchmen Maurice Le Roux, he never did an American movie so his sound is European not Hollywood, this film was largely French financed which explains his presence. Still the film is uneven, it takes too long to start and has too many slow bits, but there are parts that work extremly well, Burton espically is top of his game. The supporting cast is fine with Christopher Lee a stand out as a very competent solder. The sour ending works better then I'd have expected. ***