Richard Widmark is a naval officer during WWII who finds himself assigned to be the military liaison to a remote weather station in Mongolia. When they hear that the Japanese have been sighted in the Gobi desert, they make a deal with a tribe of Mongol nomads trading US saddles for help against the Japanese. When Japanese planes attack their camp killing the commander and destroying their radio, the Mongols leave and Widmark decides that they'll all walk across the Gobi desert to the sea.
Robert Wise's first colour film is an unusual and fairly engaging war film with a bunch of disparate parts that never really come together into a compelling whole. Widmark makes for a good lead and the odd assortment of actors playing his men include Don Taylor, Max Showalter, Martin Milner and Chipmunks impresario Ross Bagdasarian. It's got suspense, it's got humor ... it's fine.
The film is pretty respectful of the Mongols despite the fact that all the speaking parts are Americans in makeup.
Robert Wise's first colour film is an unusual and fairly engaging war film with a bunch of disparate parts that never really come together into a compelling whole. Widmark makes for a good lead and the odd assortment of actors playing his men include Don Taylor, Max Showalter, Martin Milner and Chipmunks impresario Ross Bagdasarian. It's got suspense, it's got humor ... it's fine.
The film is pretty respectful of the Mongols despite the fact that all the speaking parts are Americans in makeup.