Cold Ice in Alex (1958) is an English film depicted as a true story in the opening credits of the film, based on a novel of the same name by the English writer Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film became the winner at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival. The film was not released in the United States by 20th Century Fox until 1961, in an edited version that is 54 minutes shorter than the original, titled Desert Attack .
Video Ice Cold in Alex
Plot
Captain Anson (John Mills) is an officer who leads the British RASC Motor Ambulance Company. During the Western Desert of the Second World War Campaign when it was clear that Tobruk would be besieged by the German African Corps, Anson and most of his units were ordered to flee to Alexandria. During the evacuation, Anson who suffered exhaustion from war and alcoholism, MSM Tom Pugh (Harry Andrews), and two nurses, Diana Murdoch (Sylvia Syms) and Denise Norton (Diane Clare) became separated and in an Austin K2/Y ambulance, nicknamed 'Katy ', decided to drive across the desert back to the British line.
When they left, they found a South African Afrikaner officer, Captain van der Poel (Anthony Quayle), carrying a large package, which seemed very attached to him. After South Africa showed Anson two bottles of gin in his backpack, van der Poel persuaded Anson to let him join them on their way to the security of the British line in Alexandria, Egypt.
Anson motivated himself by thinking of the cold beer he would order when they finally reached the salvation of Alexandria - 'Alex' from the title. On the way, the group encounters various obstacles, including minefields, damaged springs of suspension (during its successor, the great power of van der Poel rescues the group when he supports "Katy" on his back when the jack collapses), and a dangerous terrain. Qattara Depression.
Twice the group meets up with advanced corps of African Korps elements; in one meeting they were shot at, and Norton was badly wounded. Van der Poel, who claims to have learned German while working in South West Africa, can talk with the Germans so they can leave. But the second time Germany seemed reluctant, until Van der Poel showed the contents of his rucksack to them.
This package is the focus of suspicion. Pugh, already disturbed by Van der Poel's lack of knowledge about South African Army Tea's brewing technique, followed him as he went into the desert with his rucksack and shovel (supposedly digging in latrines). Pugh thought he saw the antenna. Then, at night, they decided to use ambulance lights to see what Van de Poel actually did. He panics, blunders into some quicksand, and buries his backpack, though not before Anson and Murdoch see that it contains a set of radios. They dragged her to safety. When he recovers, they realize that he may be a German spy but decides not to confront him about this. During the last journey of the journey, Katy must be moved by hand to overturn the sand dunes, and the power of Van der Poel is once again very important to achieve this.
Continuing their drive, the party discusses their belief that "Van der Poel" is a spy, and decides that they do not want to see him shot. When they reached Alexandria Anson gave everyone documents except "Van der Poel" to the Military Police checkpoint and (off the screen) reported to the senior MP officer that "Van der Poel" was an ordinary German soldier they encountered lost in the desert and had surrendered to them under his parole (honorific word). Anson got MP approval to allow the party to enjoy beer with their "prisoners" before taking him to prison as a prisoner of war. The party then went to a bar and Anson ordered a cold beer, which he consumed with pleasure. But before they drink the first round, a Military Police Corps arrives to capture Van der Poel. Anson told him to wait. After making friends with Van der Poel and being indebted to him for saving the life of the group, Anson told him that if he gave his real name he would be treated as a prisoner of war, not as a spy (meaning execution by shooting troops). Van der Poel claimed to be Hauptmann Otto Lutz, a technical officer in the 21st Panzer Division. Pugh notices that Lutz is still wearing a fake South African dog tag and tore it off before the police see them. Lutz, after saying his farewell and concluding that they were "all against the desert, the bigger enemy", was expelled, with a new tribute to England.
Maps Ice Cold in Alex
Cast
Production
The film is based on a series of articles written for the Saturday Evening Post published in book form in 1957. The script makes a number of key changes from the novel.
The producers intend to shoot the work site for Cold icicles at Alex in Egypt, but producers must turn to Libya because of the Suez conflict. Sylvia Syms (Sister Murdoch) said in a 2011 interview about the film that the conditions during the desert shooting were so difficult that they felt like they were in the situation described by the film. He said: "You may find this hard to believe, but there is very little acting.That's terrible.We become people... we are those people. " He said that today people might call it an acting method, but added: 'We do not know what the Method of Acting is, we just call it' continue '. "
Syms said that during the scene where the ambulance rolled back down a hill that narrowly avoided it, the actors suspected there would be a hawser to stop the vehicle if anything went wrong, but it did not exist. The actress said she was "very sure" Mills, Quayle and Andrews angrily rebuked director J Lee Thompson for this risky approach. He added: "He likes to encourage actors a bit".
The sequence of suction sand was filmed in an icy cold swamp made in an English studio (some scenes shot at Elstree) and "very difficult" in Quayle and Mills. Syms says the producers got a good deal from him for "Ã, Â £ 30 a week", adding: "But I made more when they turned it into an advertisement for Carlsberg". He said there was "no false heroism in it" and that he had been told by the desert war veteran it was a good description of the soldiers in the war theater, adding: "I am proud of it".
Awards
The film won many awards:
- Winner FIPRESCI Award Berlin International Film Festival
- Nominated Golden Bear Berlin International Film Festival
Lager
The final scene, in which the character Mills finally gets his beer glass, is reportedly filmed a few weeks after the rest of the movie, at Elstree. The actual beer should be used to "look right", and Mills should drink a lot of glasses until the shot is over, and "a little 'intoxicating'" in the end.
Sylvia Syms says that Danish beer Carlsberg was chosen because they were never seen drinking German beer, because England and Germany were at war during the film. The beer referred to in the original novel is Rheingold, who, regardless of his German name, is an American.
The scene from the film was used in a late 1980s television advertising campaign for the German Holsten Pils beer. Each ad is mixed with the original recording of a different old movie (another example is The Great Escape (1963)) with a new humor material starring British comedian Griff Rhys Jones and ends with the slogan: "A Holsten Pils Production". In retaliation, Carlsberg's rival only picked up the segment where Mills contemplated the newly poured beer in a distinct Carlsberg branded glass, before drunk it all at once and declared, "Worth the wait!" This is followed by variations in the usual Carlsberg tagline: "Still probably the best beer in the world."
Music
In a break with previous films by Associated British Pictures, producers and editors use minimal incidental music. Leighton Lucas writes a military parade called "The Way to Alex", which is the main theme, and "Romantic".
Note
References
External links
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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