Corrected entry: In the scene where we see a German aircraft, it appears the German aircraft is a earlier variant of the Mustang fighter the P-51B or a P-51C with a longer cockpit canopy. Everything about the aircraft - its rate of climb, sound of the Merlin engine, wing and tail shape points to it being a disguised P-51B Mustang fighter. Later versions of the P-51 Mustang had a bubble shaped canopy. The film was made in 1943 and the war was still on so they would have had a problem getting the real McCoy .
Sahara (1943)
1 corrected entry
Directed by: Zoltan Korda
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lloyd Bridges, J. Carrol Naish, Bruce Bennett
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the tank crew meet up with the weary band of soldiers, Fred Clarkson (Lloyd Bridges) has a very distinctive graze on the right side of his forehead. It seems to disappear then appear then disappear during the film. When Clarkson lies injured there is no sign of the graze - there should at least be a small mark of the graze but there is nothing.
Jimmy Doyle: You think she'll pull us out all right?
Sgt. Joe Gunn: Oh, well, it all depends on the way we handle her. It's like a dame. But no dame ever said anything as sweet as this motor's going to sound to us when she gets rollin'.
Question: Serious spoiler alert: these questions summarise the entire film. During the Second World War Sgt Joe Gunn (Humphrey Bogart) and nine allied soldiers (plus one German and one Italian captive) are crossing the North African Desert. They discover a well, but this has nearly dried up and only provides a small trickle of water, barely enough to keep them alive. They are besieged by over 100 Germans. Since the Germans have no water at all they surrender to Joe Gunn. At this point a stray shell lands in the well. The resulting explosion brings hundreds of gallons of water bubbling up, more than enough for Joe Gunn's company and all the Germans. Two questions. 1. Could a well in the Sahara dry up until it only gave a small trickle of water? 2. Could an explosion really open a water supply like this?
Answer: Thank you for that! I first saw Sahara on television when I was eleven, with my mother, father and younger brother. When we saw the shell explode in the well to re-open the water supply, we all dismissed this as Hollywood hokum. But sometimes it is amusing to be proved wrong. You put a smile on my face when you informed me, and quite convincingly too, that the well really could have dried up but then opened up again.
Answer: 1. Yes it could, as water flows into the well, it could easily bring sediment and other bits of small debris and eventually block the flow of water resulting in only a trickle. 2. Again, yes. If the explosion weakens the surrounding walls holding the water back, the pressure of the water could easily rupture through the walls and result in the flooding mentioned.
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Correction: I believe the assumption this is a P51B or P51C is in error, after watching this clip during a break down of the movie using Blake Edwards Beat Sheet, I looked at it very closely, and believe it to be a North American A-36, which even at this point in time while not a slug, was not procured in massive numbers, in fact we even started outfitting the French Armee D'Air with the aircraft about this time frame.