Tank Force (1958)

Original title:  No Time To Die

Director:  Terence Young

Writers:  Richard Maibaum, Terence Young, Merle Miller, Ronald Kemp

Composer:  Kenneth V. Jones

Starring:  Victor Mature, Leo Genn, Anthony Newley, Bonar Colleano, Luciana Paluzzi, Sean Kelly, Kenneth Fortescue, Anne Aubrey, George Coulouris

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  When iron men in iron monsters fought for a continent!

Plot:  During WW2 in North Africa, an American sergeant serving with the British 8th Army is captured by the Germans but he hatches various plans of escape from the POW camp.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Here's another hot-headed American surrounded by an international cast and he saves the day.  It's been a stupid movie trope probably since just before WWII.  Usually the only way it doesn't call attention to itself is when the movie is good.  This one isn't good nor bad, it's just kind of there.  There's nothing all that interesting or exciting in the action,  drama or suspense.  Thatcher (Mature) and friends get caught after a tank battle in the desert with the Germans and are then thrown into a POW camp.  At that point the only thing I could think about is how much more terrible it must have been.  It's already bad enough to be in a POW camp, but to be in the hot desert to boot.  No thanks.  Thatcher's isn't going to stick around (he's got a good reason to get away from the Nazis, more than the usual reason of just not wanting to be around them to begin with) so he busts out on day 2 along with some fellow prisoners.  From this point on it's simply a matter of survival as they hide out in a cantina for a few hours before having to fight their way out, more desert trekking, being hunted down by the Nazi-bribed local Arab tribe, escaping their encampment, more desert trekking and finally one last tank battle before being saved at the last minute by a British tank brigade (or whatever you call it).  There are enough different scenes and obstacles for the cast that it's about the only thing that keeps this from being duller.  It's an OK movie at best. 

Victor Mature does a fine job but he feels out of place in the role.  Over the past twenty years I've seen a few of his movies from the 50s and 60s and every time he looks like his face is heavily caked on with makeup.  I don't know what the deal is with that but it was easily noticeable here, too.  Maybe it's more obvious in this one because of the heat.  In this one he's also a lot heavier than you'd think someone at war in the desert would be.  Just sayin'.

This flick has a lot of future Bond alumni like director Young, writer Maibaum, producer Broccoli, actor Robert Reitty,  and stuntman Bob Simmons.  And as a neat coincidence (or is it?), the latest Bond picture is called NO TIME TO DIE, the original British title of this film.