Action in Arabia

In the Arab world there is a saying that Allah grants wisdom but only the foolish ignore it. In this movie, The vast area of the Middle East is slowly being foolishly drawn into the second world war and both sides are doing their level best to secure the help of all the tribes. In this Philip MacDonald story George Sanders plays American News Correspondence Michael Gordon who arrives in Damacus with a colleague who is soon murdered. Directed by Leonide Moguy, our hero is unable to understand why. Because he is a newsman, Gordon is Keen to discover the reason. Unfortunately, the police and several interested officials wants him to leave on the next day's flight. In the meantime, he ties into the local network of Spys, counter spies and assassins, each with their own agenda towards their approaching war. This Black and White movie has all the traditional mystery and drama who with it's plethora of exciting cast members, such as Virginia Bruce, Gene Lockhart and Robert Armstrong makes for a great film. ****

Blandly entertaining WWII spy story about George Sanders getting involved with Nazis and intrigue in Damascus. Although filmed near the end of the war, the story takes play at the outset of WWI, with the Allies and Nazis both vying for Arab support. Petty low budget and nothing all that special except for the presence of the effortlessly suave Sanders, who manages to make this film worth checking out.

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.

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.

The action of this film never got anywhere near the Arabian peninsula for a film titled Action In Arabia. I guess the alliteration got to the folks at RKO when they titled this film as the scene of the action is Damascus.

Which was after World War I Syria was a French mandate per the Versailles treaty. When France fell in 1940 the various colonial possessions had their own internal battles as to whether to declare loyalty to the Vichy regime or the Free French of DeGaulle. Then there were the various Arab tribes not to mention the Druse people in Syria who were not mentioned in the film all of them having their own idea on which horse to place their bets.

George Sanders is an American reporter who had been covering the backwoods theater of Iraq during World War II. He's stopping in Damascus, but he also recognizes Alan Napier as a Nazi agent on the plane with Lenore Aubert who is the daughter of influential sheik H.B. Warner. He sends a colleague with a bead on the story who unfortunately gets killed following it up.

Now Sanders is on a mission to see what's going on. With the help of Virginia Bruce and her father Gene Lockhart who we really never trust simply because its Gene Lockhart and you know the roles he's normally cast in. There's also Robert Armstrong of the American Foreign Service who's a bit thick but comes through in a crisis.

It's a decent action propaganda programmer from RKO though it should have been entitled Intrigue In Damascus.