The Sheltering Desert is a 1992 South African-British-Irish drama film directed by Regardt van den Bergh and starring Jason Connery, Rupert Graves and Joss Ackland. [1] The film was a co-production between Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It is listed in the film list of the British production company Vine International Pictures Ltd. [2]
The Sheltering Desert is also the name of the book the film is based upon. [3] It is an autobiographical account written by Henno Martin. Its original German title is "Wenn es Krieg gibt, gehen wir in die Wüste". The English as well as the German edition are published by the German publisher Two Books.
In 1935, two German geologists, Henno Martin and Hermann Korn, leave Nazi Germany for South-West Africa (Namibia) to conduct field research. At the outbreak of the Second World War, many male Germans living in South-West Africa are interned in local camps. As pacifists the two German scientists refuse to be arrested and flee into the Namib Desert. They live for over two years in the vastness of the desert like ancient bushmen under indescribable circumstances, facing the challenge to survive and, at the same time, the threat to be detected. On the radio they follow the war events in Europe. Their adventure comes to an end when Hermann Korn starts suffering seriously from malnutrition.
Sir Thomas Sean Connery was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Connery originated the role in Dr. No (1962) and continued starring as Bond in the Eon Productions films From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Connery made his final appearance in the franchise in Never Say Never Again (1983), a non-Eon-produced Bond film.
Dame Dorothy Tutin, was an English actress of stage, film and television. For her work in the theatre, she won two Olivier Awards and two Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress. She was made a CBE in 1967 and a Dame (DBE) in 2000.
The Kuiseb River is an ephemeral river in western-central Namibia. Its source is in the Khomas Highland west of Windhoek. From there it flows westwards through the Namib-Naukluft National Park and the Namib desert to Walvis Bay. Several settlements of the Topnaar people are on the banks of the lower Kuiseb, for instance Homeb, Sandfontein, Rooibank, and Utuseb. Inflows of the Kuiseb are Gomab, Ojab, Chausib, Gaub, Koam, Nausgomab and Goagos.
Hitler: The Last Ten Days is a 1973 biographical drama film depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitler's suicide. The film stars Alec Guinness and Simon Ward, and features an introduction presented by Alistair Cooke; the original music score was composed by Mischa Spoliansky. The film is based on the book Hitler's Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account by Gerhard Boldt, an officer in the German Army who survived the Führerbunker.
Ice Cold in Alex is a 1958 British war film set during the Western Desert campaign of World War II based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival. Under the title Desert Attack, a shortened, 79-minute version of the film was released in the United States in 1961. Film critic Craig Butler later referred to the shortened versions as nonsensical.
Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland was an English actor who appeared in more than 130 film, radio and television roles. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying Jock Delves Broughton in White Mischief (1987).
White Mischief is a 1987 British drama film starring Greta Scacchi, Charles Dance and Joss Ackland. It was directed by Michael Radford. The film was based upon the non-fiction book White Mischief: The Murder of Lord Erroll (1982), by James Fox, which originated from a newspaper article published in 1969.
The Little Prince is a 1974 British-American sci-fi fantasy-musical film with screenplay and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe, arranged and orchestrated by Angela Morley. It was both directed and produced by Stanley Donen and based on the 1943 classic children-adult's novella, The Little Prince, by the writer, poet and aviator Count Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who disappeared near the end of the Second World War some 15 months after his fable was first published.
The Hill is a 1965 British prison drama war film directed by Sidney Lumet, set in an army prison in North Africa during the Second World War. It stars Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Ossie Davis, Ian Hendry, Alfred Lynch, Roy Kinnear and Michael Redgrave. The screenplay was by Ray Rigby based on the 1965 play of the same title by Rigby and R.S Allen.
Rupert Simeon Graves is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in A Room with a View, Maurice, The Madness of King George and The Forsyte Saga. From 2010 to 2017 he starred as DI Lestrade in the BBC television series Sherlock.
Ray McAnally was an Irish actor. He was the recipient of three BAFTA Awards in the late 1980s: two BAFTA Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor, and a BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor for A Very British Coup in 1989. In 2020, he was ranked at number 34 on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming is a 1990 TV biographical film of the life of Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond spy character, retracing his playboy youth, his expulsion from several colleges, his experiences as a newspaper writer and his tour of duty for the British intelligence agency during World War II. Fleming himself is played by Jason Connery, son of Sean Connery, the actor who first played Bond in the film series. Ex-Bond girl Fiona Fullerton, who appeared in A View To A Kill, made an appearance.
Shalako is a 1968 Western film directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Sean Connery and Brigitte Bardot. It was shot at Shepperton Studios near London with sets designed by the art director Herbert Smith. Location shooting took place in Almería in southern Spain, particularly in the Tabernas Desert which was frequently used in European westerns during the decade.
Icon is a 2005 made-for-television thriller film directed by Charles Martin Smith and very loosely based on the 1997 novel by Frederick Forsyth. The film premiered on Hallmark Channel May 30, 2005. It is set in the period 1985 to 1999.
Russ Malkin is a British TV producer and director, the founder of Big Earth Productions. He has created documentaries for broadcasters including BBC, ITV, Sky, National Geographic, Amazon, and Discovery, often working with high-profile personalities.
Henno Martin was a German professor of geology who, along with Hermann Korn, lived for two and a half years in the Namib Desert to avoid internment during the Second World War.
Crescendo is a 1970 British horror psychological thriller film directed by Alan Gibson and starring Stefanie Powers, James Olson, Margaretta Scott, Jane Lapotaire and Joss Ackland. It was made by Hammer Film Productions.
The Burning Shore is a novel by Wilbur Smith set during and after World War I.
Pinocchio is a two-episode Italian-British miniseries directed by Alberto Sironi, based on the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi and filmed in English. It first aired on the Italian channel Rai 1 on November 1 and 2, 2008.
Shadowlands, also known as C.S. Lewis: Shadowlands and C.S. Lewis Through the Shadowlands, is a 1985 television film written by William Nicholson, directed by Norman Stone and produced by David M. Thompson for BBC Wales. The film is about the relationship between Oxford don and author C. S. Lewis and the American writer Joy Davidman. It stars Joss Ackland as Lewis, with Claire Bloom as his wife Joy Davidman.