The Rats of Tobruk (film)

Last updated

The Rats of Tobruk
The Rats of Tobruk VideoCover.jpeg
Directed by Charles Chauvel
Written by
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography George Heath
Edited by Gus Lowry
Music by
Production
company
Chamun Productions
Distributed by
  • RKO (Australia)
  • Umbrella Entertainment
Release dates
  • 7 December 1944 (1944-12-07)(Australia)
  • 1949 (1949)(UK)
  • 1951 (1951)(US)
Running time
  • 95 mins (Aust)
  • 68 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

The Rats of Tobruk is a 1944 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel. An abridged version was released in the United States in 1951 as The Fighting Rats of Tobruk. The film follows three drover friends who enlist in the Australian Army together during World War II. Their story is based on the siege of the Libyan city of Tobruk in North Africa by Rommel's Afrika Korps. The partly Australian defenders held the city for 250 days before being relieved by British forces.

Contents

Plot

Three friends are droving cattle in Australia in 1939: the restless Bluey Donkin, easy-going Milo Trent and English writer Peter Linton, who is in the country on a working holiday. Kate Carmody, a homesteader's daughter, is in love with Bluey, but she turned down his marriage proposal two years before because he is wild and restless and a womanizer, even though he admits he loves her too.

When war breaks out, the three men enlist in the Australian army and are assigned to the 9th Division. They ship out to Africa. After early successes against the poorly led Italians, the army is besieged in Tobruk by the Germans. In between attacks, the men have comic encounters with a barber and Peter falls for a nurse, Sister Mary, after being wounded. There are several subsequent attacks in which all three soldiers are wounded. Peter Linton is killed but the others manage to repel the Germans. Bluey and Milo are then transferred to New Guinea, where Bluey is injured and Milo killed by a sniper. Bluey manages to kill the sniper and returns to Australia, where he is reunited with Kate.

Cast

Development

Chauvel made the film as a follow-up to his enormously popular Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940). Like that movie, it follows three friends overseas to war, and starred Grant Taylor and Chips Rafferty.

In September 1941 Chauvel announced his follow-up movie would have the background of the wool industry. [1] That seemed to change and in November 1942 Chauvel announced plans to make a film about the Rats of Tobruk. [2] He spent a year researching and writing, and securing government cooperation. [3]

In July 1943 Variety reported Charles Munro would help finance two films of Chauvel, Rats of Tobruk and Fuzzy-wuzzies. [4]

Financing was obtained from Hoyts, RKO-Radio, and Commonwealth Film Laboratories. [5] [6] Production of the movie was even announced in The New York Times . [7]

Casting

In October 1943 it was announced the lead roles would be played by Grant Taylor, Peter Finch and Chips Rafferty. They were all serving in the Australian army and played their parts on leave. [8]

Mary Gay was working as a clerk in a department store when discovered in a talent quest and cast in the role of the nurse who romances Peter Finch. [9]

Shooting

Shooting took place starting in November 1943 with the first scenes shot at Cronulla Beach, standing in for the perimeter of Tobruk. [10]

A set representing the town of Tobruk was constructed in a field near Camden. Underground firing posts and dugouts were reconstructed in the studio of Commonwealth Film Laboratories. The Cronulla sandhills stood in for the African desert, and battle scenes were shot there at nighttime. [11] Watson's Bay was used to shoot scenes of Australian soldiers embarking by boat. [12]

The New Guinea sequences were shot at Lamington Plateau, near the crash site of the 1937 Stinson plane. (That wreck had been discovered by Bernard O'Reilly who inspired Chauvel's later film, Sons of Matthew .) Army photographers also shot real-life footage in Papua for use in the movie. [13] Filipino boxer Tony Villa plays the Japanese soldier who fights Grant Taylor at the end. [14]

Captured German and Italian weaponry was used throughout filming. [15] In 1943, the 3rd Army Tank Battalion was equipped with a squadron of Australian built Sentinel AC1 tanks which had been modified to resemble German tanks. The army provided advisers who had served in Tobruk. [16]

Filming ended in June 1944. [3] [17]

Reception

Critical

The film received mixed reviews. The critic from the Argus thought it was better than Forty Thousand Horsemen [18] but the one from the Sydney Morning Herald claimed that:

The fictional background is dull and uninventive, the characterisation often stilted and self-consciously patterned to arbitrary types, and the editing loose and jumpy as the story which, in its amateurish nature, is a dead-weight on the entire production. The chief merits of the film, which was made in the face of great difficulties that may explain, but do not excuse, its weaknesses for a commercial market, are its reconstruction of Tobruk and the fidelity of its action scenes to historic fact. Yet, while these action scenes are truthful, their interpretation by the aim leaves their outlines and purposes vague so that an audience has to guess too much about who's fighting who and what the strategy is. [19]

Filmink magazine later wrote "I’m not quite sure what Taylor did during his war service, but it was having its impact already by the time of this film – Taylor looks puffier, more balder, less enthusiastic. He’s still pretty good, just not as good as in Horseman – like the film itself really, which was a commercial disappointment." [20]

Box office

Early box office response was encouraging [21] but the movie was not as popular as Forty Thousand Horsemen .

US release

It was not released in the US until 1951. [22] The critic from The New York Times called the movie "one of the most harrowing bores in years from anywhere... most of the eighty five minutes is crawling agony... it's a toss up as to which is more primeval, Mr Chauvel's direction or the acting of the entire cast." [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Jedda</i> 1955 Australian film

Jedda, released in the UK as Jedda the Uncivilised, is a 1955 Australian film written, produced and directed by Charles Chauvel. His last film, it is notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal actors, Robert Tudawali and Ngarla Kunoth in the leading roles. It was also the first Australian feature film to be shot in colour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Chauvel (filmmaker)</span> Australian filmmaker (1897–1959)

Charles Edward Chauvel OBE was an Australian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter and nephew of Australian army General Sir Harry Chauvel. He is noted for writing and directing the films Forty Thousand Horsemen in 1940 and Jedda in 1955. His wife, Elsa Chauvel, was a frequent collaborator on his filmmaking projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chips Rafferty</span> Australian actor (1909–1971)

John William Pilbean Goffage MBE, known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until he died in 1971, and during this time he performed regularly in major Australian feature films as well as appearing in British and American productions, including The Overlanders and The Sundowners. He appeared in commercials in Britain during the late 1950s, encouraging British emigration to Australia.

Ronald Grant Taylor was an English-Australian actor best known as the abrasive General Henderson in the Gerry Anderson science fiction series UFO and for his lead role in Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940).

<i>The Overlanders</i> (film) 1946 film

The Overlanders is a 1946 British-Australian Western film about drovers driving a large herd of cattle 1,600 miles overland from Wyndham, Western Australia through the Northern Territory outback of Australia to pastures north of Brisbane, Queensland during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damien Parer</span> Australian photographer (1912–1944)

Damien Peter Parer was an Australian war photographer. He became famous for his war photography of the Second World War, and was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire at Peleliu, Palau. He was cinematographer for Australia's first Oscar-winning film, Kokoda Front Line!, an edition of the weekly newsreel, Cinesound Review, which was produced by Ken G. Hall.

<i>In the Wake of the Bounty</i> 1933 film

In the Wake of the Bounty (1933) is an Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel about the 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty. It is notable as the screen debut of Errol Flynn, playing Fletcher Christian. The film preceded MGM's more famous Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, by two years.

<i>The Desert Rats</i> (film) 1953 film by Robert Wise

The Desert Rats is a 1953 American black-and-white war film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Robert L. Jacks, directed by Robert Wise, that stars Richard Burton, James Mason, and Robert Newton. The film's storyline concerns the Siege of Tobruk in 1941 North Africa during World War II.

<i>Eureka Stockade</i> (1949 film) 1949 British Australian Western film by Harry Watt

Eureka Stockade is a 1949 British film of the story surrounding Irish-Australian rebel and politician Peter Lalor and the gold miners' rebellion of 1854 at the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, Victoria, in the Australian Western genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Maguire</span> Australian-born actress

Mary Maguire was an Australian-born actress who briefly became a Hollywood and British film star in the late 1930s.

<i>Bitter Springs</i> (film) 1950 film

Bitter Springs is a 1950 Australian–British film directed by Ralph Smart. An Australian pioneer family leases a piece of land from the government in the Australian outback in 1900 and hires two inexperienced British men as drovers. Problems with local Aboriginal people arise over the possession of a waterhole. Much of the film was shot on location in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia

<i>Forty Thousand Horsemen</i> 1940 Australian film

Forty Thousand Horsemen is a 1940 Australian war film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film tells the story of the Australian Light Horse which operated in the desert at the Sinai and Palestine campaign during World War I. It follows the adventures of three rowdy heroes in fighting and romance. The film culminates at the Battle of Beersheba which is reputedly "the last successful cavalry charge in history". The film was clearly a propaganda weapon, to aid in recruitment and lift the pride of Australians at home during World War II. It was one of the most successful Australian movies of its day. It was later remade in 1987 as The Lighthorsemen.

Sons of Matthew is a 1949 Australian film directed and produced and co-written by Charles Chauvel. The film was shot in 1947 on location in Queensland, Australia, and the studio sequences in Sydney. Sons of Matthew took 18 months to complete, but it was a great success with Australian audiences when it finally opened in December 1949.

<i>Uncivilised</i> (film) 1936 Australian film

Uncivilised is a 1936 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel. It was an attempt by Chauvel to make a more obviously commercial film, and was clearly influenced by Tarzan.

George Patrick "Pat" Hanna was a New Zealand-born film producer, he was a soldier of the First World War who entertained post-war audiences with the stage show Diggers, that was adapted to a film of the same title in 1931.

<i>Heritage</i> (1935 film) 1935 Australian film

Heritage is a 1935 Australian historical film directed by Charles Chauvel.

100,000 Cobbers is a 1942 dramatised documentary made by director Ken G. Hall for the Australian Department of Information during World War II to boost recruitment into the armed forces. Grant Taylor, Joe Valli and Shirley Ann Richards play fictitious characters.

South West Pacific is a 1943 propaganda short Australian film directed by Ken G. Hall which focuses on Australia as the main Allied base in the South West Pacific area. Actors depict a cross section of Australians involved in the war effort.

While There is Still Time is a 1943 short Australian dramatised documentary about Australian soldiers during World War II directed by Charles Chauvel.

Commonwealth Film Laboratories was an Australian production company that operated from 1925 to the 1950s. It was formerly located in Surry Hills, Sydney.

References

  1. "Chauvel Talks on New Project". Sunday Times (Perth) . Western Australia. 14 September 1941. p. 8 (Supplement to ""The Sunday Times""). Retrieved 17 May 2020 via Trove.
  2. "FILM PLANNED ON TOBRUK "RATS"". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 7 November 1942. p. 10. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  3. 1 2 ""RATS OF TOBRUK" FTLM SOON". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 7 June 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  4. "Australia". Variety. 14 July 1943. p.  95.
  5. "HOW AN AUSTRALIAN FILM IS MADE". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 16 September 1944. p. 6 Supplement: The Argus Week-end Magazine. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  6. "FILMING "THE RATS OF TOBRUK"". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 7 December 1944. p. 2. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  7. "A BIT OF THIS AND THAT ABOUT THE FILM SCENE" by THOMAS M. PRYOR. New York Times 29 August 1943: X3.
  8. "Servicemen In Film - "Rats Of Tobruk"". Army News . Vol. 2, no. 628. Northern Territory, Australia. 8 October 1943. p. 2. Retrieved 2 August 2023 via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Film Role For Sydney Girl". Sunday Mail . Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 19 March 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  10. "Tobruk Rats help to put epic siege on screen". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 11, no. 23. Australia, Australia. 6 November 1943. p. 9. Retrieved 2 August 2023 via National Library of Australia.
  11. "BY WAYS OF THE ARMY". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 17 June 1944. p. 7. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  12. ""RATS OF TOBRUK" AT WATSON'S BAY". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 17 June 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  13. "CHAUVEL FILM MEN IN JUNGLE". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 29 December 1943. p. 8. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  14. "JAPANESE TROPHIES FOR FILMS". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 12 June 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  15. "FILM TO DEPICT EPIC DEFENCE OF TOBRUK". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 5 August 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  16. "Films You'll be Seeing Soon". The Mail . Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 4 September 1943. p. 10. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  17. "HOW AN AUSTRALIAN FILM IS MADE". The Argus (Melbourne) . No. 30, 594. Victoria, Australia. 16 September 1944. p. 6 (The Argus Week-end Magazine). Retrieved 2 August 2023 via National Library of Australia.
  18. "GREAT AUSTRALIAN WAR FILM". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 8 December 1944. p. 2. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  19. "NEW FILMS IN SYDNEY THEATRES". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 11 December 1944. p. 5. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  20. Vagg, Stephen (29 July 2019). "Unsung Aussie Filmmakers – Grant Taylor: A Top Ten". Filmink.
  21. "PUBLIC APPRECIATES "RATS OF TOBRUK"". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 14 December 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  22. "New York calls 'The Rats' 'a most harrowing bore'". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 25 May 1951. p. 7. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  23. "THE SCREEN: FOUR FILMS HAVE PREMIERES HERE: Danny Kaye 'On the Riviera,' With Gene Tierney, Arrives at the Roxy Theatre 'Smuggler's Island' at Rivoli-- Paramount Showing 'Sealed Cargo'--'Tobruk' at City at the Paramount at the Rivoli at the City Theatre" by BOSLEY CROWTHER. New York Times 24 May 1951: 57.