Ice Cold in Alex

By far one of the best Top 10 WWII movies ever made. A stellar cast including John Mills (who basically was in every Brit made WWII film), the stunning and talented Sylvia Syms, Anthony Quayle who can play anyone and the ever present Harry Andrews. A survival story that pits the characters against the Nazis, the deadly heat and the cruel deserts in North Africa just to survive. You know that you have made a classic when you come out of watching a film and you are completely drained. You've sweated when they have sweated, your heart sinks when theirs does and if there are moments of jubilation you are on your feet fist pumping in the air. If you are going to watch one WWII movie in your life, make it this one.

Excellent! I watched this film for the first time in 2023! As someone who is too young to have seen it originally I was blown away...superb! I particularly liked the narrative and plot line surrounding Anthony Quail! Highly recommended!

A war film based on character observation is rare as it relies on quality acting. Mills is a great actor anyway, but the quartet including Quale, Andrews and Simon is a perfect cast. The heroics is in the journey itself, not big set action scenes. One of my absolute favourite films.

A pretty good war film which holds up well today. The bar scene was used in a lager advert maybe in the 90s and I always assumed it was filmed for the advert to look old, nope - it was actually in the film.

When it comes to great, suspenseful, feel good, British war time classics... it doesnt get much better then 'Ice Cold in Alex'. What a great title. In fact I wouldn't mind cracking open an ice cold one in Alex after watching this great film. The amount of suspense in this picture is back breaking... literally in one scene. Then there is the whole sequence through the mine field. Oh boy! I've never been so glued to the screen. So much great team work going on. This is more character driven then most war stories. Focusing on one small band. The casting is great. Mills and Quayle are fantastic. The acting is pretty good for this time period. The ending is satisfying too! Very well put together film. It gives you a feeling that there are so many stories that happened during the war, and that this is just one of them. The few instances where they do use music in this film in kind of reminded me of some of John William's work on star wars. This films message is generally stoicism and team work in adversity. And even a touch of comradeship with ones enemy. All in all, it's a must watch for war film enthusiasts and anyone who likes suspense films. Give it a watch. It deserves more credit.

As far as WWII treks across the Sahara, I'd prefer Humphrey Bogart's "Sahara" from some 15 years earlier. This one plods too much.

This has to be one of the oldest films I've watched, but I can see why movies like this might coin the phrase 'they don't make em like they used to'. Of course there's no special effects, no colour, and no Hollywood pin-ups, but what it does have is good old honest reality. Based on a true story, it's an inspiring tale of how a small band of British Officers overcome several hurdles both from within the desert, amongst enemy lines, and from within their own troops, in their pursuit of reaching safety, not to mention an ice cold beer in Alexandria. It's well worth a watch as before you know it, you're gripped at the storyline, not even noticing its lack of modern day technology, and the concluding scenes will have you reaching for the beer fridge and joining the cast for that mouth watering moment on the lips.

My favourite film, first saw it when I was a child and it's captivated me ever since. With such a small cast the experience is more like a theatrical performance than the usual cinematic style, and so has such intimacy between the audience and the actors. One issue this film does has, however, is a rather dated attitude towards women. The way the rest of the cast deal with Denise Clare's character is very much of the time and does rankle a modern audience. But, the rest of the film is just as great as the day it was made.

North Africa, WW2. Four British medical staff - a medical unit CO, the unit's sergeant major and two female nurses - are separated from their unit while trying to evacuate from besieged Tobruk in an ambulance. Along the way they pick up a South African infantry officer. With the Germans taking capturing most of their intended escape destinations, their options are few, and fraught with danger. Plus, the South African officer doesn't appear to be who he claims. Great movie, directed by L Lee Thompson, who went on to direct Cape Fear and The Guns Of Navarone, amongst others. At its most basic it's a pure survival movie - a handful of people in a rickety old truck against the desert. The resourcefulness they show is very interesting and engaging. Add in the fact that there's a war on, and the story adds another level of drama and danger. Then throw in the intrigue that one of the band is potentially a spy and things get really interesting. Good work all round from the main cast - John Mills, Sylvia Syms, Harry Andrews and Anthony Quayle. On the negative side, Thompson's direction is a bit clumsy at times. Some sequences just don't make sense, and overstate the importance of a remark or event. The problem probably lies with the editing, more than anything else.

One of the best War movies ever made. An ambulance crew have to drive through the desert to Alexandria with a German spy on board. The desert and it's many obstacles becomes the enemy. The end scene with the beer is a classic and always makes me thirsty. I love this film