World War II - David Belair
Sahara was an enjoyable film. For its purpose (propaganda film during WWII), and for when it was made (1940's), it was well done. The main moral of the story was America and its allies are good, and Germany and their allies are bad. We were basically hit over the head with this idealism. The first instance being when the allied crew stumble accross and African, allied soldier escorting an Italian prisoner. The ensuing scene ends when Captain Gunn decides to leave the Italian too die in the desert, with the rationale being that Captain Gunn is looking out for the wellfair of his soldiers, savig 10 at the expense of one. He soon has a bit of compassion and stops the tank to save the Italian. This again shows that the Allies are good, and they have heart. Another example of the heart and compassion of the Americans is when Captain Gunn allows the German and Italian prisoners to have the same amount of water from the well as the allied soldiers received. Again, Allies good. We see the cockiness and treachery of the Germans throughout the film. Whether it is the pilot who was shot down who asked the Allies to surrender to him, because the allies were in a hopeless situation, or it was the German officer who shot Frenchy in the back. Germans are clearly not to be trusted, they are cocky, evil, and treacherous.
Of the six government catagories and themes that Hollywood was to use as a guide for propoganda films, I think the movie adhere's to four of the themes. One, the movie tries to show what we are fighting for, freedom from Germanies rule. Two, the movie clearly tries to show the nature of the enemy. Italians are in line with the Germans, however the movie portrays the soldiers and people of Italy as good. The issue is with Mussolini, not the people. By the end of the movie, the Italian prisoner was seen as a good person, who could no longer fight for the beliefs of Mussolini or Germany. The movie, however, portrays all Germans as no good, treacherous, back-stabbing thugs. Again, this is most evident when Frenchy is shot in the back. Three, the movie shows our allies in arms. The group of soldiers picked up at the medic station are French, English, and Scottish. The movie shows how American and its allies are in the war together, and fighting for the same cause. Like the third catagory shown, the fourth catagory is the fighting forces. I think both these last two tie together and show how if the allied forces stick together the war will be won.
The racial make-up of the cast was fitting for that time of our history. There were no women, women were not allowed in the military at that time. There was one black soldier, but he was from another country. Blacks were not allowed to fight in the Army at that time, so it was a creative way to add another racial group into the film. Even though blacks were not allowed to fight in the military, the propoganda machine still had to try and keep everyone back home in synch with the war effort. I thought it was somewhat amusing in the scene where the Black soldier is asked to search the German pilot. The German pilot wants someone else to search him, and Captain Gunn has the black soldier search him anyways. My take on that scene was that the film makers were trying to show how much worse it would be for blacks in a Germany ruled world as apposed to a democratic, allied ruled world. The scene is overtly racist and seems to basically say that even though America has repressed black Americans, a world led by Germany would be even worse for blacks around the world. Wouldn't you rather be subjected to American racism, rather than German racism?
Overall I thought the movie was good. It used war propaganda as many movies of that time did. It showed how war wasn't pretty, and that a soldier had to fight and die for what he believedin. That a few allied soldiers, with enough heart, could overcome a battalion of German soldiers. America is good, its enemies are bad. It addressed the moral consequences of war in the scene were they left the Italian to die and then changed their minds, and also with the speach that Captain Gunn gave to the allied troops to get them to stay and fight. They new they would most likely die, but for the good of the war, and to help save freedom, they would make their stand. The movie wasn't overly PC, but it was a different time, and the movie can be taken for what it is. A good old fashion, good guy versus bad guy war movie.