''Desert Mice'' is a 1959 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

featuring

Alfred Marks Alfred Edward Marks OBE (born Alfred Edward Touchinsky; 28 January 19211 July 1996) was a British actor and comedian. In his 60-year career, he played dramatic and comedy roles in numerous television programmes, stage shows and films. His self- ...

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mi ...

Dora Bryan Dora May Broadbent, (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television.Irene Handl Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father ...

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation c ...

and

Liz Fraser Elizabeth Joan Winch (14 August 1930 – 6 September 2018), known professionally as Liz Fraser, was a British film actress, best known for being cast in provocative comedy roles. Early life Fraser was born in Southwark, London. Her year of bi ...

. A group of

ENSA The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

entertainers with the British army in the North Africa desert during the Second World War thwart a Nazi plan. The title is a play on the

Desert Rats The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during the Second World War, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign gained it the ''Desert Rats'' nickname. After the Muni ...

Plot

group tours around North Africa entertaining British troops. One night, Bert hears the tune (with no words) for "

Lily Marlene "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troo ...

". He sets about writing a variety of lyrics to the tune. Attached to an intelligence unit they realise that when singing their words to the well-known tune some in the audience are singing in German, exposing them as spies.

Cast

as Major Poskett *

as Bert Bennett *

Dora Bryan Dora May Broadbent, (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television.Dick Bentley Charles Walter "Dick" Bentley (14 May 1907 – 27 August 1995) was an Australian-born comedian and actor of radio, stage and screen. He starred with Jimmy Edwards in '' Take It From Here'' for BBC Radio. He was a staple of and pioneer of radio, ...

as Gavin O'Toole *

Joan Benham Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine *Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multiple ...

as Una O'Toole * Reginald Beckwith as Fred *

Irene Handl Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father ...

as Miss Patch * Kenneth Fortescue as Peter *

Patricia Bredin Patricia Bredin (born 14 February 1935) is an English actress and one-time singer, who is best known as the first representative of the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest. She took part in the 1957 contest, held in Frankfurt and fini ...

as Susan *

as Edie *

Marius Goring Marius Re Goring, (23 May 191230 September 1998) was a British stage and screen actor. He is best remembered for the four films he made with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in '' A Matter of Life and Death'' and as Julian Cr ...

as German Major *

Anthony Bushell Anthony Arnatt Bushell (19 May 1904 – 2 April 1997) was an English film actor and director who appeared in more than 50 films between 1929 and 1961. He played Colonel Breen in the BBC serial ''Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59), and al ...

as Plunkett * George Rose as Popados *

Alan Tilvern Alan Tilvern (5 November 1918 – 17 December 2003) was an English actor. He was known for usually playing "tough-guy" roles. Life Tilvern was born 5 November 1918 in Whitechapel, in the East End of London, to Jewish-Lithuanian parents, who c ...

as German Captain *

as Staff Colonel * M. E. Clifton James as Field Marshal Montgomery There is one big gaffe in the film, when in one of the lorry journeys you see a photo of Dave Mackay, of Spurs, stuck on the lorry canopy; clearly it dates from the 1959 period of the film, and not WW2, as 1959 was when Mackay began playing for Spurs Football team.

Critical reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' called it a "Light little comedy." and

Sky Cinema Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema o ...

"A good-hearted, sporadically enjoyable tribute to ENSA," whilst noting "an enjoyable roster of familiar British character actors, headed by Sidney James, Dora Bryan, Reginald Beckwith, Irene Handl and Dick Bentley, all seen at near their best. Director Michael Relph's serious-minded talents are not entirely suited to this featherweight farce, although he does deliver some agreeably funny moments."

References

External links

* 1959 films North African campaign films Military humor in film British comedy films 1959 comedy films British black-and-white films Films set in deserts Films shot at British National Studios 1950s English-language films 1950s British films {{1950s-UK-comedy-film-stub