Alicia I love this movie so much

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A_Different_Drummer You need to remember that for a certain period almost every film out of Hollywood was either about the war or about something that took place with the war as a backdrop. In that context, this film -- directed by Billy Wilder, who would become a legend in later years -- is one of the best of the genre. It is not merely about the war in North Africa, it is not merely about what it is like having to fight against the Nazi machine, it is not merely about being a spy for the "good guys", there is a secondary plot arc about maps and secret caches of materiel which I prefer not to give away. Of the many films of this type done in this period, one of best. Entertaining, and a little piece of history, to boot.

sol **SPOILERS** Made during the hight of WWII the film "Five Graves to Cairo" did its best in trying to explain the reasons why German Field Marshall Ewin Rommel's, Erich Von Stroheim, Africka Corps was so successful in battling the numerically superior,in men and equipment, British forces in the North African Campaigen. This was found out by British corporal John Bramble, Franchot Tone, who after escaping from Rommel's troops in the Libyan desert ended up at this watering hole on the Egyptian Libyan frontier Sidi Halkaya where Rommel's Africka Corps took a breather in its drive into Egypt!Taking on the identity of Paul Davos, who was killed in a German air raid, a waiter at what looked like the only building in town "The Princess of Britian" hotel Bramble soon found out from Rommel's aide de camp Lt.Schwegler, Peter Van Eyk, that Davos,or the person he was masquerading around as, was in fact a German spy who kept him informed, through the hotel laundry room, on British 8th Army troop movements in North Africa. What Bramble was now determined to find out was Romell's future plans and somehow get them back to British 8th Army headquarters in Cairo before Rommel makes his next move!While all this is going on the owner of the hotel the Egyptian Farid's, Akim Tamiroff, French maid Mouche, Anne Baxter, has other ideas in dealing with the German occupiers! Mouche wants to get her brother who's being held prisoner in a German POW camp freed even if she has to get in good with the Germans in charge, Lt. Schwegler & Field MarshellRommel,to do it! This makes things very difficult for Bramble in that Mouche feels that his country, Great Britain, was responsible for her brother being in German hands by him as well as 50,000 other French troops being left twisting in the wind on the beaches of Dunkirk back in 1940! That while the fleeing British Troops checked out of France to avoid capture and annihilation by the German Army!Romell in trying to impress a number of captured British officers in how smart he is almost lets the cat out of the bag in how he plans to capture Cairo as well a the rest of Egypt in bragging that his supply lines are out of reach of the British RAF and Royle Navy's air and naval bombardments. This has Bramble, who was listening in on Romell's conversation, trying to figure out if Rommel's supply lines are in advance or ahead of his troops instead of behind them! But where they are was something that was way over Bramble's head! Even though it was right in front of his, and the British officers, eyes if they ever bother to logically and analytically check out the map that Romell was showing them!Pretty good war movie despite the very obvious allied propaganda in it. The film did make a point of Rommel's total disdain of his Italian allies in the person of the buffoonish Italian General Seastiano, Fortunio Bonanova, whom Romell had no use for,in his annoying singing, at all. We also got to see the conflict between the British and French in the French,through Mouche, feeling that they were used by Churhill as cannon fodder in the war by having them, especially at Dunkirk, do all the heavy lifting. ***SPOILERS*** It was later that Mouche got a change of heart when she found out through Field Marshell Rommel himself that she was being strung along by her German boyfriend Lt. Schwegler in him trying to save her brother which he had no intention of doing. These actions by Schwegler were only to get the chance of getting Mouche, in appreciating his noble and unselfish efforts, in the sack with him! P.S The film makers seemed to have waited until the war in North Africa was officially over in early May 1943 to release "Five Graves to Cairo" even though it was in the can, finished, months earlier. That's very probably because they didn't want any more surprises from Field Marshall Rommel, the real one not the actor who played him in the movie, in him pulling a rabbit out of his hat in turning the tide of the war in North Africa in Germany's favor! Like he did so many other times before when it looked like he and his Africa Corps had just about had it!

blitzebill Despite some recent reviews of this film that seem to miss the main points of the story and how it HAD to be portrayed and acted, this movie was well-made and a refreshing approach to an interpretation of the war in North Africa.This is especially true for the depiction of Rommel. As has been said here by others, Von Stroheim had the real Rommel nailed pretty well.Wilder was a great director, and knew what he had to do with the actors available to him during the war, and how they would depict the characters in this story.Bravo Mr. Wilder!

jpdoherty The films of writer, producer director Billy Wilder are regarded as some of the finest works of cinematic art in the history of motion pictures. Wilder, who with a handful of film pioneers such as John Ford, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann, John Houston and Henry Hathaway et al forged and created a unique style in the production of films that today are looked upon as enduring, inspired and unsurpassed classics. In the case of Wilder such dramatic and sublime fare as "Double Indemnity" (1944), "Ace In the Hole" (1951) and Hollywood's greatest film about itself "Sunset Boulevard" (1950). Plus his comedies like "The Apartment" (1960) and "Some Like It Hot" (1959) - regarded by many to be the funniest film ever made - can never, let's face it, be equalled. There is a timelessness and ageless quality about them that reaches out to anyone who watches them regardless of their generation. Contemporory film maker Cameron Crowe observed "Wilder's work is a treasure trove of flesh and blood individuals, all wonderfully alive".It is hard to believe that one of Wilder's earliest Hollywood efforts FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO was made in 1943. It seems to be a much later film in look, approach and concept. Yet this quite intriguing spy drama was the result of the day's headlines being utilized by Wilder for the movie's scenario. Based on Lajos Biro's play "Hotel Imperial" it was superbly written by Charles Brackett and Wilder and sharply photographed in monochrome by John Seitz. It was produced by Brackett for Paramount Pictures and was masterfully directed by Wilder. Franchot Tone is British tank Corporal John Bramble who stumbles into a Sahara oasis hotel after crawling through the desert during the North African campaign in 1942. The Germans also arrive at virtually the same time headed by none other than the infamous German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel (Erich Von Stroheim). Rommel and his command take up residence in the hotel run by nervous local Arab Farid (Akim Tamiroff) and an attractive Alsatian maid Mouche (Anne Baxter). To conceal his identity Bramble pretends to be the hotel waiter and as such tries to find out from the formidable quest exactly where on the map the German arms dumps are located. With help from Farid and the maid and gaining Rommel's confidence he eventually acquires the information but not before Mouche sacrifices herself so that Bramble can leave and get back to the British lines.Performances are uniformly excellent! Tone gives an engaging portrayal of a reluctant spy. Anne Baxter has rarely been better than here in the role of the ill-fated Mouche and the amusing Akim Tamiroff as the ever fearful and stammering Farid is as appealing as ever. But the picture belongs to Von Stroheim! His striking performance just steals the show. Although the actor didn't resemble Rommel in the slightest his embodiment of the character is exactly what you would imagine the great German battlefield strategist should have, perhaps, looked like. Rommel himself died in 1944. It is interesting to ponder if he ever saw the picture and what his thoughts on Von Stroheim's flamboyant portrayal of himself might have been.Complimenting the picture throughout is the terrific score by Miklos Rozsa. Rozsa was one of Wilder's favourite composers and wrote the music for some of the director's best films like "Double Indemnity" (1944), "Lost Weekend" (1945) and "The Private Lives Of Sherlock Holmes" (1970). For FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO he wrote a spirited and heroic march to point up the British forces movements and a reflective and ravishing character theme for the maid Mouche which is given lovely renditions on solo violin.FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO is a superb and suspenseful spy thriller set in an atmospheric war background. And thanks to the great Billy Wilder it's a great movie that simply refuses to age in its appeal.Classic moment from FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO:Rommel, sitting up in bed as Mouche (Anne Baxter) enters with his breakfast, "I don't like women in the morning" he declares and when she pours his coffee and with a gesture of the back of his hand he instructs her to "take two steps back please".