Expert: Mel - 2/2/2008

Question
Dear Mel:  I saw this movie on television in about 1962 or 63.  It was probably shot in the early 1950's. Setting:  Western desert, Egypt or Libya, where Rommel and Montgomery fought each other.  Time setting:  a few years after World War II is over.  Maybe 1948 or 1950.  Plot:  A group of scientists/oil exploration guys/somebody are out in the desert.  They get lost (or maybe their airplane runs out of fuel).  OR something. Anyway, they are lost in the desert, no way to get home.  Another problem/danger:  local Arab tribes are in revolt or for some reason are hostile.  Our heroes, the lost guys, are trying to get home.  They come upon, in the desert, an old abandoned tank left over from the fighting in 1942 or 1943.  I think that for the purposes of the film it's supposed to be a Tiger tank (not found in the Western desert in 1942 but that's neither here nor there).  They find to their astonishment that the tank still has fuel and STARTS UP!!  They get in the tank and head for home.  Hostile Arabs shooting at them the entire way.  Their luck holds until one Arab gets a lucky shot and hits their fuel line.  The one scene I specifically remember then occurs.  Two Arabs are watching the tank rumbling away.  They can see leaking fuel dribbling from the back of the tank.  One turns to the other and says something like "See! The Tiger bleeds!" Finally something happens to the tank but the heroes get back home with the exception of their intrepid leader who is, of course, mortally wounded by another lucky shot.  I don't remember any of the actors.  I was about 9 yrs old when I saw it.  But the movie just stuck in my mind somehow. Probably because I was staying home from school with flu and was having a wonderful time. I have tried everything but have found not one reference to the movie.

Answer
Hello James,

This is hardly what I would class as a "classic film" :). It was a "B" movie made in 1953 called "The Steel Lady". Rod Cameron, Tab Hunter and John Dehner starred.

STORYLINE: "Four men searching for oil in the desert have their plane forced down during a sandstorm. The plane is damaged beyond repair, but the storm has uncovered a German tank which has been buried since WW2. The men are able to repair the tank and head off in the direction of a French Foreign Legion post. One of the men discovers a cache of jewels hidden in the tank and plans on keeping them for himself. The tank runs low on water, but they luckily stumble across an oasis. There, they encounter a nomadic Arab tribe who believe the oilmen have found the treasure of Kalipha, a rival Arab leader. If trying to acquire the jewels by guile doesn't work, the Arabs are prepared to kill the oilmen to get the stolen treasure."

Here's a link:

http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:111684


Glad to be of help. Cheers........Mel.