Immortal Sergeant

This is the first American film about the North Africa campaign and the last film Henry Fonda made before reporting for the war. In fact he had tried to report earlier but studio head Zanuck had him deferred until this film was made.

"The Immortal Sergeant" tells the oft-told tale of a group of soldiers at risk trying to survive. The first version I can recall was "the Lost Patrol" a 1929 British silent film remade in 1934 by John Ford. Those films were based on the 1927 novel "Patrol" and the basic theme has been repeated since (e.g., 'The Thirteen", "Sahara", "Last of the Comanches", "Kokoda").

This 1943 film is an American propaganda film using the British fighting in Africa for the setting. Though this is obviously a studio film, the camera work is pretty good and some of the action sequences look good.

The cast is rich with 40s stars like Henry Fonda, Thomas Mitchell, Maureen O'Hara, and Reginald Gardiner. But they are merely going through the motions and there is nothing here you haven't seen before.

My favorite WW 2 fighting films made between 1942 and 1944 include "Wake Island" (1942), "Bataan" (1943) which also had Mitchell, "The Fighting Sullivans" (1944), "Flying Tigers" (1942), "Guadalcanal Diary" (1943), "The North Star" (1943), "The Rats of Tobruk" (1944), and "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (1944).

There are a plethora of non-fighting WW 2 films that are worthy of mention – "Casablanca" (1942), "Lifeboat" (1944), "Hangmen Also Die" (1943), and "Five Graves to Cairo" (1943).

It is not as good as "An Ice Cold in Alex" but next to it. It's the same kind of desperately desolate desert with no hope, no water, only the constant peril of the Germans, all lives constantly at stake, and some occasional actual fights. Most of the action takes place in the night, so you don't see much of the arid landscape, fortunately, and there are some moments of relief. The acting is superb by everyone, Thomas Mitchell above all as the sergeant, and Henry Fonda, as the corporal, while Maureen O'Hara sparkles in all her beauty only in flashbacks. These flashbacks actually constitute the main cinematic attraction of the film, because they show the ideal life dreamed about in times of wine and roses from the utter darkness of the abyss of the desperate war situation. It's a Great War film, and the last film Henry Fonda made before enlisting for the war himself.

Low-budget film with the sole purpose of serving as war propaganda for the entire Allied side. The protagonist, an antihero due to his wartime experience, unwittingly and subsequently consciously transforms into a hero. What a more fantastical transformation, when in reality, war often produces exactly the opposite. But well, any ammunition is necessary in the war effort, and what better ammunition than young volunteers, deceived by unfiltered and unscrupulous propaganda.

Well, but this veiled or blatant propaganda seems inevitable for any war-themed film production; you know it, and you have to deal with it.

Cinematographically speaking, the film barely passes with so little money; there are no visual resources for more than a desert as the main setting and the night that conceals everything, flaws included. Narratively, everything is focused on the film's main mission, so no one in the production has made an effort to offer more. Even Fonda, who accepted this supporting role, later regretted it in his biography.

But well, the only thing that saves it is that classic cinema has its charm, a mixture of black and white drama, close-ups that few actors today can endure, and that aura of times past, which in the collective imagination is mistakenly always considered better. Another interesting aspect not to forget is that the film is contemporary to the events narrated, and for war genre enthusiasts, it's always a pleasure to be able to enjoy them, even though it's impossible not to think that while some were giving their lives, fighting in battles or under the oppressive yoke of the occupying enemy, others could indulge in the magical world of the seventh art.

Henry Fonda looks just like he appeared in 1940's "The Grapes of Wrath."

This is quite a good film detailing several soldiers caught in Africa during World War 11 and how they eventually overcome their perils.

Thomas Mitchell, as the old-time sergeant is a standout here. There is able support by Allyn Joslyn, Reginald Gardiner and others.

Maureen O'Hara is used mainly in flashbacks here as Fonda thinks back of his past while trying to lead his men to freedom.

The ending seems rushed up as Fonda wakes up in the hospital and is told how they got out of their predicament.

Some films age well, while others get noticeably worse over the years. This film falls into the second category. First, we are asked to believe that Henry Fonda is British; please. Then, we have to subjected to Thomas Mitchell, one of the worst character actors in the history of film. He always played a mischievous Irishman; how creative.

Fonda is always good; regardless of his vehicles in film and Sullivan is believable (but not as a Brit).

The production crew made a few mistakes; like the desert being sweaty at night; it is cool in the desert at night, and unbearingly hot in the day.

This leads to a few other holes in the plot. After the crew attacks and kills a German crew, why didn't they take THEIR food and water? Duh.

Second error. Why not kill the Germans while they are sleeping instead of foraging for food and water? They would have been a lot easier to kill sleeping, rather than awake and walking around with their weapons. Sorry, no sale. Had very little to do with real desert warfare.