Taxi for Tobruk, based on story by Rene Havard 8 out of 10

Taxi for Tobruk, based on story by Rene Havard
8 out of 10


Lino Ventura, Charles Aznavour and Hardy Kruger contribute to making this film remarkable.

A French unit is fighting against the Nazis, in the North of Africa, while their vicious Vichy regime is siding with the Germans in World War II.
The vehicle they use breaks down and the morale of half of the group is compromised as a consequence.

Lino Ventura has the role of le brigadier Theo Dumas, who is pushing for his men to continue through the desert, even if they have no means of transportation.
Charles Aznavour aka Samuel Goldman feels walking through the sands is pointless and so does Francois Gensac who states that dying without effort seems much better than taking pains to achieve the same thing...

He will just rest...

However, even the desolate two change their minds and luckily, they appear to find a way out.
After a short walk, they run into a German group that has a  vehicle with them.

They attack the enemy and they also stop Captain Ludwig Von Stegel as he is about to use a gun and send a message to his comrades.
It would be a long journey, during which the opponents get to know each other.

First, Jean Ramirez wants to kill the remaining Nazi and then Goldman tells him he is Jewish.
They have to drive through a mine field, where one of them dies.

Then they have to pretend to be Germans as they cross through their camp, where Just say ja, for they do not know the language.
After this, there are more perils.

During the difficult trip, the captain refused to do any work, saying that the Geneva convention protects him.
When their transporter is stuck in the sand, the French start digging.

This is the moment when they do not watch over their prisoner.
Therefore, they become prisoners in turn.

Von Stegel has taken the machine gun and he is now in command.
For a while, it looked like he may even drive away, leaving the enemy in the desert.

There are some amusing moments, for instance the refusal of the captors turned prisoners to cooperate...
Why should they do any work, when the former captive had rejected them a while back.

Then there is the story told by one of the commandos, about his father who is with the Petain regime
My father would become Chinese, if the Chinese occupied France, and would take the colors of anyone else who would get the power