Deep in the African desert, a British man named Charles Holland (Donald Sinden) is on a mission to find his brother, David Holland (Anthony Steel), a soldier who had recently been reported as missing. Upon arriving at the camp in which his brother had last been seen, he quickly begins to realise that this disappearance isn’t as straight-forward as he’d hoped. With help from the locals, the truth quickly begins to reveal itself. An interesting drama with elements of romance and war blended well together.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst
Writers: Robin Maugham, Bryan Forbes
Starring: Anthony Steel, André Morell, Donald Sinden, Anna Maria Sandri
Set in the picturesque Libya of 1956, The Black Tent, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, was adopted from the novel of the same name, written by Robin Maugham, who himself had served in the North African Desert during World War 2. The Black Tent is one of the very few feature films set during the final days of the British Military Administration of the country.
One of the strongest aspects of the flick would have to be the filming locations on display. A large majority of the film took place on set in Libya, with some beautifully filmed shots capturing the vast desert that the country has to offer, along with the Roman Ruins in Sabratha, otherwise known as the Theatre of Sabratha, situated just by the coast of Libya. The colourised version of the film is certainly worth tracking down if possible.
With the positives, however, come some minor flaws that the filmmakers created for themselves. There seemed to be a small lack of realism when it came to the characters on display. Despite them being represented as Libyan people, their appearance and fluent English contrasted that greatly. With that being said, this didn’t serve as too much of a distraction throughout the rather modest ninety-three minute runtime.
In terms of the cast, Anthony Steel adopted the role of David Holland, while André Morell appeared as Sheik Salem ben Yussef, commanding a large chunk of screentime throughout. Other noteworthy appearances came from Donald Sinden and Anna Maria Sandri, who portrayed Charles Holland and Mabrouka ben Yussef, respectively.
All in all, The Black Tent may not be the perfect film and it certainly lacked action and impact, especially considering that it was billed as a war film, but the drama and romantic sub-plots does more than enough to keep the viewer engaged. It’s worth noting that The Black Tent is regarded as a good appetiser for the later released Lawrence of Arabia (1962), a movie that will be reviewed on the website in the coming months.
“I find that hard to believe…“
Charles Holland – The Black Tent
The DC Review Blog - EST. 2020 