Action in Arabia

Newspaper reporter George Sanders hurries through the airport--he's heading home from an assignment but is keeping his eyes open. In the first moments of his stay in Damascus, he encounters a number of questionable characters:

Lenore Aubert, inscrutable and beautiful in an exotic outfit complete with tall head wrap. Virginia Bruce, who hangs around the hotel looking nervous and appears to have some connection with Gene Lockhart, a gambler with dubious morals.

Robert Armstrong gets to the point as an American foreign service agent sent to keep Sanders from stirring up local mischief:

"You're a troublemaker," Armstrong tells Sanders bluntly. Sanders replies: "That's what Herr Goebbels said about me once. I was deeply flattered."

The plot is fairly straightforward. One of Sanders' colleagues is found murdered; Sanders sticks around to investigate. Soon Sanders realizes he is working to identify and thwart Nazi operatives. Determining who's who among the other players is neither simple nor safe.

Sanders is excellent--suave, clever and tough, this character is more serious-minded than the Saint or Falcon. Some good aerial photography over the desert adds excitement as the action builds.

Mystery, thriller, patriotic WWII picture....Overall, a solid and efficient production.

This movie pops up quite regularly on late night TV-and every time I get sucked into watching it. A cut above usual B grade movies with some very good stock footage of Arabic life the plot is the usual spy Vs spy yarn -but I have to say its very enjoyable. The cast is likable with a number of familiar faces all going earnestly about their business. The real star for me are the Art directors and set decorators. They did not have much to work with on the back-lot but have created that quintessentially Hollywood interpretation of what Damascus would or rather should look like. This is great entertaining action-er that's enjoyable its Casablanca inspired introduction to the final shoot out where the good guys triumph. Well worth a look at any time of the night.

Action in Arabia opens with an introduction by the narrator, while displaying a boundary map of Africa, europe, and the middle east as of 1944. Starring the dashing George Sanders (from All About Eve) and Gene Lockhart, we go running around Syria looking for those Nazi's during WW II. Also look for H B Warner (who had played the great "Chang" in Lost Horizon, and JC in "King of Kings"). There has to be a lovely lady at the center of these things, and here its Virginia Bruce playing Yvonne Danesco, the wife of a crooked gambler, at the very least. People start getting knocked off, and away we go! Because we're off in a far away land, and chasing spies, its quite exotic, but according to IMDb, its mostly all filmed in LA. Scoping out the cast list, apparently Bud Wiser played "the man"...... actually, the beer WAS first; it has been around since 1883! Directed by Russian turned Frenchman Leonide Moguy, this was only one of the three English speaking films he did between 1936 and 1961. With some arabic ,german, and french language thrown in, a fun war-time adventure.

I watched this because it came on after a movie I watched on purpose. I meant to turn it off, especially because it looked so incredibly low-budget right from the get-go... but I didn't turn it off and, five minutes in, just couldn't stop watching. There are so many snarky, clever, laugh-out-loud lines! There is also as much intrigue and eccentric characters as in Casablanca (and some of the same actors as well). You will need to know a bit about the history of the time to get the plot, but all you'll need to like the film is to listen and drink in George Sanders absolutely awesome performance - this is my favorite of his films. It's low budget and a bad print, but the perfectly-cast Sanders and the hilarious one-liners make it worth the watch.

Reporter Michael Gordon (George Sanders) is passing through Damascus, Syria from an assignment. Another American reporter arrived along with Gordon...and soon this other reporter is discovered dead! Michael is determined to get to the bottom of whoever is responsible for his murder...and the trail soon heads to a pretty lady, some Nazis and even the chieftain of the Bedouin tribes! And, again and again, Michael slips in and out of one dangerous situation after another but you know he'll be okay, as he's the hero!

This is a decent film--mildly interesting but made even better by the lovely performance by George Sanders, who is, as usual, very smooth and engaging. Well worth seeing and a bit better than the typical wartime propaganda film.