''Rope of Sand'' is a 1949 adventure-suspense film noir directed by

William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood primarily a ...

, produced by

Hal Wallis Harold Brent Wallis (born Aaron Blum Wolowicz; October 19, 1898 – October 5, 1986) was an American film producer. He is best known for producing ''Casablanca'' (1942), ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), and '' True Grit'' (1969), along wi ...

, and starring Burt Lancaster and three stars from Wallis's '' Casablanca'' -

Paul Henreid Paul Henreid (November 10, 1908 – March 29, 1992) was an Austrian-British- American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for two film roles; Victor Laszlo in '' Casablanca'' and Jerry Durrance in ''Now, Voyager'', ...

, Claude Rains and

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

. The film introduces

Corinne Calvet Corinne Calvet (April 30, 1925 – June 23, 2001), born Corinne Dibos, was a French actress who appeared mostly in American films. According to one obituary, she was promoted "as a combination of Dietrich and Rita Hayworth", but her person ...

and features

Sam Jaffe Shalom "Sam" Jaffe (March 10, 1891 – March 24, 1984) was an American actor, teacher, musician, and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in '' The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950) and ap ...

John Bromfield John Bromfield (born Farron Bromfield; June 11, 1922 – September 19, 2005) was an American actor and commercial fisherman. Early years Farron Bromfield was born in South Bend, Indiana. He played football and was a boxing champion at Saint Mar ...

, and Kenny Washington in supporting roles. The picture is set in South West Africa. Desert portions of the film were shot in

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

Plot

Hunting guide Mike Davis (Burt Lancaster) came across a cache of diamonds in a mining area located in a remote region of

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

. He was caught by the mine's police but refused to reveal the diamonds' location, even under torture at the hand of the diamond company's security chief, Vogel (Paul Henreid). He left South Africa for some time. Davis returns to get the diamonds which he still expects will be at the spot where he found them. The mining company's owner, Martingale (Claude Rains), tries to find out where the diamonds can be found by guile rather than force. He hires a beautiful prostitute, Suzanne Renaud (Corinne Calvet), to seduce Davis and get him to reveal the secret location. Davis plans an illegal entry into the diamond mining area to retrieve the diamonds and plans to escape to

Portuguese Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

. Meanwhile, Vogel is attracted to Suzanne and offers to marry her. But Suzanne is attracted to Davis who is more interested in his diamonds than Suzanne. Davis finds the diamonds but Martingale threatens to kill Suzanne unless Davis gives him the diamonds. Davis gives up the diamonds and ends up leaving the country with Suzanne, discovering that he loves her more than the diamonds.

Cast

* Burt Lancaster as Mike Davis *

as Vogel * Claude Rains as Martingale *

as Suzanne *

as Toady *

as Dr. Hunter *

as Thompson, a guard *

Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. His 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) presence and face had him typecast as often brainless athletes ...

as Pierson, a guard * Kenny Washington as John *

Edmund Breon Edmund Breon (born Iver Edmund de Breon MacLaverty; 12 December 1882 – 24 June 1953) was a Scottish film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1907 and 1952. Life and career Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Br ...

as Chairman *

Hayden Rorke William Henry Rorke (October 23, 1910 – August 19, 1987), known professionally as Hayden Rorke, was an American actor best known for playing Colonel Alfred E. Bellows on the 1960s American sitcom ''I Dream of Jeannie''. Early life Rorke was ...

as Ingram * David Thursby as Henry, the bartender *

Josef Marais Joseph Pessach (November 17, 1905, Sir Lowry's Pass Village – April 27, 1978, Los Angeles), better known by his stage name Josef Marais, was a folk-singer from South Africa. Biography Marais left South Africa in the 1920s to study violin an ...

as Specialty Singer * Miranda Marais as Specialty Singer

Background

According to the Paramount Collection at the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

(AMPAS) library, the desert sequences were shot in

. Paul Henreid was blacklisted from major studios at the time but says he was cast because Dieterle was an old friend of his and Hal Wallis was supportive of the actor being cast. Henreid said the role was a departure for him but "it had the greatest lines in the script and I had a lot of fun doing it."

Reception

Critical response

Film critic

Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, he started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low-budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacitie ...

reflected on the background of the film and how it was received when first released, "A polished production on all technical levels, the gritty ''Rope of Sand'' was filmed from a screenplay purchased by producer Wallis specifically for Burt Lancaster in 1947. Although William Dieterle's direction is capable, the script works too hard to introduce an overly familiar collection of stock thriller types ... Critics generally liked Lancaster's performance, even if they slighted the work of Claude Rains and Peter Lorre and saved the bulk of their praise for Paul Henried's nasty villain. Lancaster's own assessment of the film was unprintable, but he was quoted at a time when he was itching to move on to more interesting roles.Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson
''DVD Savant'', film/DVD review, March 27, 2011. Accessed: July 21, 2013.

Accolades

Nominated *

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

: Best Screenplay, Walter Doniger, 1950.

References

External links

* * *
''Rope of Sand''
information site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images) *

Streaming audio

''Rope of Sand''
on

Screen Directors Playhouse ''Screen Directors Playhouse'' (sometimes written as ''Screen Directors' Playhouse'') is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcas ...

: April 28, 1950 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rope of Sand 1948 films 1940s adventure films American adventure films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Film noir Films scored by Franz Waxman Films directed by William Dieterle Films produced by Hal B. Wallis Films set in South Africa Paramount Pictures films 1940s American films