Sands of the Desert

Sands of the Desert
Original UK quad poster
Directed by	John Paddy Carstairs
Written by	John Paddy Carstairs (screenplay) Charlie Drake (additional dialogue)
Story by	Anne Burnaby Stafford Byrne Robert Hall
Produced by	Gordon Scott
Starring	Charlie Drake
Cinematography	Gilbert Taylor
Edited by	Richard Best
Music by	Stanley Black
Production company	Associated British Picture Corporation
Distributed by	Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK)
Release date	8 September 1960 (1960-09-08) (UK)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Sands of the Desert is a 1960 British adventure comedy film directed and written by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Charlie Drake (his first lead role in a feature film), Peter Arne, Sarah Branch and Raymond Huntley.^[1]

Plot

Charlie Sands, a British travel agent is sent to run a holiday camp in the Arabian Peninsula after his predecessor is assassinated because the property is sitting on a potential oilfield.

Cast

• Charlie Drake as Charlie Sands
• Peter Arne as Sheikh El Jabez
• Sarah Branch as Janet Brown
• Raymond Huntley as Bossom
• Rebecca Dignam as Nerima
• Peter Illing as Sheikh Ibrahim
• Harold Kasket as Abdullah
• Marne Maitland as advisor to sheikh
• Neil McCarthy as Hassan
• Derek Sydney as Mamud
• Alan Tilvern as Mustafa
• Martin Benson as Selin
• Eric Pohlmann as Scrobin
• Inia Te Wiata as Fahid
• Paul Stassino as pilot
• Beth Rogan as air hostess

Box office

Kine Weekly called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.^[2]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Charlie Drake's original comedy talent, as exploited by his television shows, here vanishes beneath a heavy, studio-bound hash-up of slapstick and obvious jokes about sheikhs, harems and mirages. Unconvincing model work, a sentimental sub-plot and the wooden playing of the heroine are further insurmountable difficulties besetting the comedian's attempts to lighten the mixture by his impish mannerisms of gait and speech."^[3]

TV Guide described it as "a mildly amusing comedy that never really delivers its laugh quota, due primarily to its uneven script. Drake, a popular British television comic of the day, is good, though the movies are clearly not his metier."^[4]

References

1. "Sands of the Desert (1960)". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
2. Billings, Josh (15 December 1960). "It's Britain 1, 2, 3 again in the 1960 box office stakes". Kine Weekly. p. 9.
3. "Sands of the Desert". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 27 (312): 131. 1 January 1960 – via ProQuest.
4. "Sands Of The Desert". TVGuide.com.

External links

• Sands of the Desert at IMDb