27 Days With Billy Wilder And Me

Billy Wilder’s third movie, Five Graves to Cairo, a World War II tale starring Franchot Tone, Anne Baxter, and Erich von Stroheim, was released in 1943. Billy was 37 years old.

Opening title card:
In June 1942 things looked black indeed for the British Eighth Army. It was beat, scattered, and in flight. Tobruk had fallen. The victorious Rommel and his Afrika Korps were pounding the British back and back toward Cairo and the Suez Canal.

Principle Cast:
Cpl. John J. Bramble / Paul Davos……………….Franchot Tone (1905–1968)
Mouche……………………………………………………..Anne Baxter (1923–1985)
Farid…………………………………………………………Akim Tamiroff (1899–1972)
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel……………………..Erich von Stroheim (1885–1957)
Lt. Schwegler…………………………………………….Peter van Eyck (1911–1969)

Once again, Billy Wilder teamed with Charles Brackett to write the screenplay, which isn’t particularly compelling.

I don’t know what to say about this movie. If not for the presence of famed actors Anne Baxter and Erich von Stroheim, I’d be bored to tears by this film.

A reviewer on the Internet Movie Database captured the essence of the movie with this description:

June, 1942. The British Army, retreating ahead of victorious Rommel, leaves a lone survivor on the Egyptian border–Corporal John Bramble, who finds refuge at a remote desert hotel…soon to be German HQ. To survive, Bramble assumes an identity which proves perilous. The new guest of honor is none other than Rommel, hinting of his secret strategy, code-named ‘five graves.’ And the fate of the British in Egypt depends on whether a humble corporal can penetrate the secret…

One of the reasons why I love Billy Wilder’s movies is that he is a superb screenwriter with an ear for clever, memorable dialogue. Usually. Five Graves to Cairo isn’t in the same league as other Wilder movies, and pales in comparison to his next one, Double Indemnity. The former is out of print or was never available on DVD in America (the copy I’m watching now is a Spanish import). It is barely remembered in the Billy Wilder canon. The latter is considered one of the finest examples of film noir ever made.

But more about that tomorrow.

For now, I have to keep my eyes open through Five Graves to Cairo.