Sands of the Desert

1960 British film by John Paddy Carstairs

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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

## Critical reception

[edit]

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

[edit]

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. ProQuest 1305820721.
4. ^ "Sands Of The Desert". TVGuide.com.

## External links

[edit]

* Sands of the Desert at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by John Paddy Carstairs

* Paris Plane (1933)
* Double Exposures (1937)
* Night Ride (1937)
* Missing, Believed Married (1937)
* Holiday's End (1937)
* Incident in Shanghai (1938)
* Lassie from Lancashire (1938)
* The Saint in London (1939)
* Meet Maxwell Archer (1940)
* The Second Mr. Bush (1940)
* Spare a Copper (1940)
* He Found a Star (1941)
* Dancing with Crime (1947)
* Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948)
* Fools Rush In (1949)
* The Chiltern Hundreds (1949)
* Tony Draws a Horse (1950)
* Talk of a Million (1951)
* Treasure Hunt (1952)
* Made in Heaven (1952)
* Top of the Form (1953)
* Trouble in Store (1953)
* Up to His Neck (1954)
* One Good Turn (1955)
* Man of the Moment (1955)
* Jumping for Joy (1956)
* Up in the World (1956)
* The Big Money (1956)
* Just My Luck (1957)
* The Square Peg (1959)
* Tommy the Toreador (1959)
* Sands of the Desert (1960)
* A Weekend with Lulu (1961)
* The Devil's Agent (1962)

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