Nicholas Ray's bleak war film about retribution that turns sour in the desert. As with most Ray films, this one split the critics, though most gave a thumbs down to Ray's efforts to enliven what is basically a tedious combination of war and romance, top-heavy with dialogue and stock characters. Richard Burton, Curt Jurgens and Ruth Roman labour mightily to make something of the affair; among this miscast in support are Alfred Burke (as a major) and Christopher Lee, as a sergeant, roles you would have thought better cast the other way round.