The Black Tent
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Black Tent'' is a 1956 British war film directed by
Brian Desmond Hurst Brian Desmond Hurst (12 February 1895 – 26 September 1986) was a Belfast-born film director. With over thirty films in his filmography, Hurst has been hailed as Northern Ireland's best film director.Screening will honour 'NI's best film ...
and starring Donald Sinden, Anthony Steel,
Anna Maria Sandri Anna Maria Sandri (born 10 August 1936), credited under the name Maria Sandri, is an Italian actress who portrayed the daughter of a Bedouin sheikh, Mabrouka ben Yussef, in ''The Black Tent''. Selected filmography * '' La morte civile'' (1942) ...
, André Morell and Donald Pleasence. It is set in North Africa, during the Second World War and was filmed on location in
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. During the British retreat through Libya, British officer Captain David Holland takes shelter with a
Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
has turned up in the British Embassy in
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
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 Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent fil ...
. 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 El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...
, 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 Anna Maria Sandri (born 10 August 1936), credited under the name Maria Sandri, is an Italian actress who portrayed the daughter of a Bedouin sheikh, Mabrouka ben Yussef, in ''The Black Tent''. Selected filmography * '' La morte civile'' (1942) ...
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 Anton Diffring (born Alfred Pollack, 20 October 1916 – 19 May 1989) was a German-born character actor who had an extensive career in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1980s, latterly appearing in international films. He appeared in ove ...
as Senior German Officer *
Frederick Jaeger Manfred Frederick Jaeger (9 May 1928 – 18 June 2004) was a German-born British film, television, theatre and radio character actor. Biography Jaeger was born in Berlin, Germany, but moved to England following Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He ...
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 Sabratha ( ar, صبراتة, Ṣabrāta; also ''Sabratah'', ''Siburata''), in the Zawiya District

Reception

''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' had trouble with the reality of the story but thought "the scenery is impressive and the tents... are interesting." "Too bright, too clean, too polished", wrote ''The Times''. The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' thought the "intelligently constructed" script was undermined by "disappointingly slack" direction. ''Filmink'' called it "entertaining". The film was released in the US in 1957 on a double bill with '' Checkpoint'', also starring Anthony Steel.
Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
calls the film "an odd duck... that has never received much fan love in its day or since, and in fact is barely remembered today. But it is, for one thing, the first English-language film shot largely in Libya" and which "plays like something of a prophecy – six years before the epochal on-location imagery and direct exploration of British colonialism we're all familiar with in David Lean's ''
Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
'' (1962), here are vast desert-dune landscapes punctuated by Englishmen and testy Bedouin on camels, with all of the culture-collision freight that implies."


Books

''Theirs is the Glory: Arnhem, Hurst and Conflict on Film'' takes Hurst's Battle of Arnhem epic as its centrepiece and then chronicles Hurst's life and experiences during the First World War and profiles each of his other nine films on conflict, including ''The Black Tent''.. Publisher Helion and Company and co-authored by David Truesdale and Allan Esler Smith and a foreword by Sir Roger Moore. Available here: http://www.helion.co.uk/new-and-forthcoming-titles/theirs-is-the-glory-arnhem-hurst-and-conflict-on-film.html


References


Bibliography

*


External links

*
''The Black Tent''
at TCMDB
The Black Tent
at Letterbox DVD
''The Black Tent''
at BFI

at Brian Desmond Hurst website
Review of film
at Variety
March 1956 review
at Variety {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Tent, The 1956 films 1956 war films British war drama films North African campaign films Films directed by Brian Desmond Hurst Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot in Libya Films scored by William Alwyn 1956 drama films British World War II films Films set in Libya 1950s English-language films 1950s British films