BENGAZI (1955)

Scottish police inspector Richard Carlson, stationed in postwar Bengazi, is after a ring of thieves whose latest accomplishment is stealing a British government jeep. The ring is headed by a shady American (Richard Conte) and a beefy bar owner (Victor McLaglen) and they intend to use the jeep to go out in the desert and find a deserted mosque in which fleeing Nazis may have buried some stolen Arab gold. Complicating their plan is McLaglen's daughter (Mala Powers) who shows up unannounced after many years away. All of them wind up at the mosque in the desert where they find themselves surrounded by Arabs with guns who, understandably, also want the gold. The first half has a B-level CASABLANCA feel, but the last half becomes THE LOST PATROL with a small band of people getting slowly picked off by unseen snipers. The added element is romance: Carlson and Conte both want Powers, though she doesn't seem terribly impressed with either of them. It owuild seem that the last men standing will be the winner (stay alive and get the girl), though that's not quite how it works out. This is a drab adventure movie with uncharismatic actors, tired situations and virtually no action. Carlson tries the hardest but being saddled with a flamboyant Scottish accent hampers him. McLaglen still has some spark left in him from his days as a rough & tumble character actor in the 30s and 40s, but Conte and Powers are bland enough as to practically vanish from the screen, and the only supporting player to stand out is Hillary Brooke as Conte's favorite hooker, and she doesn't get much screen time. If you can get through the first half (like watching paint dry), you might get some mild enjoyment out of the desert sequences, but even those are mostly talk. Pictured are Carlson and McLaglen. [TCM]