The Black Tent

''The Black Tent'' is a 1956 British war film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Donald Sinden, Anthony Steel, Anna Maria Sandri, André Morell and Donald Pleasence. It is set in North Africa, during the Second World War and was filmed on location in Libya.

During the British retreat through Libya, British officer Captain David Holland takes shelter with a Bedouin tribe and marries the sheik's daughter. After the war his younger brother, who had believed him to be dead, learns that he may be alive in Libya – prompting him to set out and search for him.

Along with ''Bengazi'' (1955), ''The Black Tent'' is one of the few feature films set in the last days of the British Military Administration of Libya from 1945 to 1951.

Plot

The film begins with Colonel Sir Charles Holland (Donald Sinden) receiving a note at his country estate and proceeding to London.
He contacts the Foreign Office and is informed that his missing-in-action brother may be still in Libya. A promissary note dating from the Second World War has turned up in the British Embassy in Tripoli signed by his presumed-dead brother who had given in to a nomadic bedouin tribe.

Sir Charles goes to Libya and is guided into the desert by Ali (Donald Pleasence) in search of his brother. They track down the tribe who had presented the note. The chief Sheik Salem ben Yussef (André Morrell) lives in a black tent. He admits to having sheltered his brother but is otherwise dismissive. However, Sir Charles spots that one of the women Mabrouka has a blonde son (Daoud) of an age appropriate for his brother to have been the father. He puts two and two together and confronts the chief only to find the girl in question is his daughter. Sir Charles is asked to leave the camp, but the girl passes a paper to Ali. It is the diary of the brother's time in Libya.

The film then goes back to a tank battle where blonde-haired Captain Holland (Anthony Steel) is sprawled unconscious beside his tank on the sand with a bad shoulder wound. When he comes to, he walks over the dunes until collapsing near a Bedouin encampment at an oasis. He is found by the sheik's daughter, Mabrouka (Anna Maria Sandri), who takes him to the camp which consists of several black tents.

Captain Holland, having been tended by Mabrouka, recovers. He learns that Mabrouka is the sheik's daughter and is betrothed to Sheik Faris ( Michael Craig) from another tribe. When a German reconnaissance vehicle arrives at the camp, Captain Holland hides in the Roman ruins at Leptis Magna. The senior German officer then finds Holland's service revolver in a tent. The chief persuades the Germans that he slit the Captain's throat and kept the revolver as a souvenir.

Mabrouka and Captain Holland become romantically involved to the obvious annoyance of Sheik Faris. He colludes with the Germans who return to the ruins where Holland and Sheik Yussef kill them and Faris. The romance between Captain Holland and Mabrouka deepens and they marry.

Learning of the British victory at El Alamein, Captain Holland seeks to return to the British lines but finds that his wife is pregnant. A group led by the Sheik and Captain Holland travel toward the British lines but come across a column of retreating Italian vehicles. Captain Holland sustains a fatal injury rescuing the Sheik.

The film returns to the present day with the Sheik discussing the story with Sir Charles and his daughter. Sir Charles asks for a missing page from the diary and this is given. It confirms that Captain Holland is the father to the Arab boy. This means the boy should have inherited the estate in England rather than Sir Charles. Sir Charles sits in the desert and discusses this with his nephew but the boy decides to remain with the tribe and he burns the incriminating page.

Cast

* Donald Sinden as Colonel Sir Charles Holland
* Anthony Steel as Captain David Holland
* Anna Maria Sandri as Mabrouka ben Yussef
* André Morell as Sheik Salem ben Yussef
* Terence Sharkey as Daoud Holland
* Donald Pleasence as Ali
* Ralph Truman as Major Croft
* Anthony Bushell as Ambassador Baring
* Michael Craig as Sheik Faris
* Paul Homer as Khalil ben Yussef
* Anton Diffring as Senior German Officer
* Frederick Jaeger as Koch
* Derek Sydney as Interpreter

Original story

The film was based on an original story by Robin Maugham, who had served in the North African Desert during World War II. It first appeared as a short story ''Pay Bearer £20'' in ''Cheque Au Porteur''. He later published a version of the story under the title "Desert Bond" in ''Chambers Journal''. Maugham later included the story under the title "The Black Tent" in a later anthology of his writings published in 1973 called ''The Black Tent - and Other Stories''.

In the early 1950s Robert Clarke of Associated British considered buying the screen rights to the story. He decided not to but eventually hired Maugham to be his assistant.

Production

Producer Walter MacQuitty was an enthusiast of location filming - his most recent pictures included ''The Beachcomber''.The film was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location in Libya. The film unit was mostly based in Tripoli arriving in August 1955. The lead actress was Italian appearing in her first English language film.

Star Donald Sinden had previously made ''Above Us the Waves'' with producer MacQuitty and ''Simba'' with director Brian Michael Hurst. It was an early film role for Michael Craig, who had recently signed to the Rank Organisation; it was the first time he made a movie on location.

The film used the site of the Roman ruins at Sabratha

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