The Steel Lady

I remember seeing it once about 40 years ago when I was about 7, and it just stuck with me: The image of those guys digging in that sand dune and finding that cool WWII Afrikakorp tank with the witch painted on the turret; pure adventure. I never knew the title, but today I decided to do a plot search on IMDB and finally discovered it after all these years. I do remember it as being ultimately unsatisfying, but it's amazing how one solid image can last in a kid's mind. Will try to rent it for old time's sake.

I first saw this movie on television in the 60s, and still remember it for its feel of adventure( finding a lost German tank after a sandstorm) and enjoyed some intersting to watch B-movie character actors (Rod Cameron, John Dehner, Tab Hunter as a young hero-worshiping oil hand, and others). The running fights between the tank and the arabs was also fairly well-staged. I have hoped for years that this movie would be finally offered on VHS. I would definitely buy it. Although its scope is considerably smaller than Bogart's SAHARA(a WW2 movie about a wayward tank and its crew struggling to survive) it still holds up well as a simple adventure feature and I'd love it to see it again..

When I watch a movie like this one, I am not just watching a movie, I'm re-experiencing the simplicity of the early fifties. The details are not important. In 1953, we were convinced that radiation could produce tomatoes the size of Buicks. The improbability of restarting a WWII German tank buried in sand for 10 years would not have been an issue. I would take the simplicity of the fifties over the sophistication of the present any day. But then I watch movies for release, I go to work for reality.

It's great to see that this "B" movie hasn't been totally forgotten. In the early/mid '50's there was a movie house in E. Weymouth, MA (The Victor) that charged 14 cents for kids' admission to Saturday matinée's. The films they showed were of the type that became TV 'movietime' fodder later in the 50's, but until then, for 14 cents you got to see a decent double feature on the big screen - great audio, in "air conditioned comfort." Steel Lady was the film I remember most out of dozens of Saturday potboilers. The plot was totally plausible to a ten year old, and it's good to see that some other reviewers are willing to cut it some slack, even today. I look forward to finding a copy to see how it has held up.

The previous review is ridiculous. This was a fascinating adventure yarn that had me riveted when I saw it at age 12. It is about a plane crash in the desert where the survivors discover a buried WWII tank after a storm exposes the turret. The idea of fixing up a tank that has been in the desert for 10 years with the remnants of a plane crash, (oil gas, parts,) is totally possible. Our government stores planes, tanks, trucks etc. in the desert because they do not rust or deteriorate. I have not been able to see it since as it is not available anywhere, as far as I know. For a '50s adventure movie it is great.