Foxhole in Cairo

German spies Adrian Hoven and Neill McCallum head to Cairo to find out for Rommel where the British plan to counter-attack in the desert campaign. They seem to be doing very well, but don't they realize that James Robertson Justice is head of Navy Counter-Intelligence in Cairo? What's that? Wasn't Operation Salaam an Army operation? Nominally, but putting him in the army would have required Justice to shave his beard.

It's not a particularly gripping story except that I kept wonder when, if ever, anyone was going to do anything to stop the Nasty Nazis. I also kept looking for Michael Caine, who is supposed to be in this as a German soldier. I couldn't spot him.

Director John Llewellyn Moxey was better known for a long career in television than for the eight minor films he was in charge of. In the late 1960s, he moved from Britain to Hollywood, where he continued to direct, ending with MURDER SHE WROTE about 1991. He died in 2019, 94 years of age.

The film was made before Ultra was made public. Now the Germans had broken the English code but they didn't know that the codebreakers at Bletchley Park were reading the German enigma codes. Monty had thos information and used it in his preparations for El Alamein.

This is one of many war films of the period,and it benefits from the rather larger than life presence of James Robertson Justice. Most of his parts seemed to be a variation of Lancelot Spratt.

Fenella Fielding is unusually playing a dramatic part. Down the credits as a German signaller is Michael Caine. Albert Levine in a familiar part as a Nazi officer.

Ever heard of Director John Moxey? Congrats if you have. I haven't. That now out of the way, I have to admit that for an unknown good ol' Moxey did a smashing job with a cast where the only truly recognizable figures are those of James Robertson Justice - larger than life and with that wonderful voice to boot - and Michael Caine, of all people, early in his career and acting as a German spy in North Africa reading Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.

Moxey also extracted a credible show from Adrian Hoven, as the foxy agent going the long route to infiltrate the British information hub in Cairo, Egypt. His girlfriend is exotic dancer/spy Gloria Mestre, displaying one of the loveliest pair of legs I have ever seen, and her dancing is sexy beyond adjectives.

Cinematography is strictly standard with some "authentic" war footage interspersed, the script by Leonard Mosley certainly good enough to keep me watching right through.

An added plus involves the interests of Egyptians and Jews to be rid of British colonial rule, leading to conflicting interests. FOXHOLE IN CAIRO may not be a masterpiece but it is certainly a solid work reflecting the many motivations and directions the human soul can take in a war.

Despite obvious budget limitations, I found it believable and well worth watching. 8/10.

The movie is based on a true story. Rommel has planted two German spies in Cairo. They are his "ears and eyes" in the British eight army. Rommel is looking for information which can help him plan an attack on Cairo. The plot is good and interesting and the film holds the story together. It is quite clear that the budget is low, most of the scenes are shot in studios. The story is told in a slow pace, sometimes to slow- it never gets exciting! The acting is quite good all over, despite a few minor roles. Actor Michael Caine acts in a minor role as a German; Hans. Foxhole in Cairo is a nice little film, nothing more, and add up to 4/10

In North Africa during WWII the British, lead by Captain Robertson (James Robertson Justice) are losing ground to Rommel but he still needs information about the heavily fortified city. Robertson discovers that the Germans have sent a small convoy across the desert to Cairo and rightly assumes they are spies, however he must still find them.

Various British character actors all play their part in helping or hindering the spies, including a drunken, lovesick and unreliable Robert Urquart, Jewish liaison Niall MacGinnis with Fenella Fielding as his ears and eyes and a young Michael Caine as a nazi go between. Lots of steamy night club scenes mixed in with real footage and a half decent script make for an enjoyable enough and true wartime yarn.

P. S. Strange score sounds like the something from a 'Carry On' film.