Rope of Sand

1949
Approved
1h 44m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Film Noir Action Adventure Crime Thriller

A man abused by a sadistic mining company cop before he could tell where on their desert property he'd found diamonds decides to steal them instead.A man abused by a sadistic mining company cop before he could tell where on their desert property he'd found diamonds decides to steal them instead.A man abused by a sadistic mining company cop before he could tell where on their desert property he'd found diamonds decides to steal them instead.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

1.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Trivia
During one scene with Burt Lancaster, Corinne Calvet felt nauseated and threw up on her leading man. She was not able to film anything else that day. She remained grateful to the actor that he never mentioned it after she returned and gave her suggestions and encouragement. She credits him for her success in Hollywood.

Goofs
When Mike and his hunting companion are found with a diamond they are tortured to get information on where they found it. The two men were found in the desert with clear tracks to and from the diamond find site. It would have been simple to track where they had been.

Quotes
Suzanne Renaud: Now do you want to kiss me?
Fred Martingale: N - no, I think not. You'd better keep your kisses for emergencies.

Connections
Referenced in Native Son (1951)

Soundtracks
Zulu Warrior
(uncredited)
Written by Josef Marais
Performed by Josef Marais and Miranda Marais

User reviews29

Review

Featured review

8/10

Telling the story

I rate this movie pretty highly and then I wonder, were Hollywood movies in the late 40s generally this good, in which case I'll have to see a lot more. "Rope of Sand" is so well made--the story clicks along, every shot is perfectly placed and serves the story, both day and night scenes in a desert are grandly photographed. The interiors are more elaborate than one might imagine, but Edith Head's costumes for Ms. Calvet guarantee that her character is irresistibly sexy. The cast has been gathered from across Europe and beyond--OK, some of them more difficult to follow than others--the supremely skilled actor, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre doing his elegant lowlife, Marais and Miranda singing in a nightclub. And of course young Burt Lancaster, both beautiful and doing the turns of his character. Credit then too to Paul Henreid, holding his own in a fight scene with Lancaster. And there's even a willingness to define South Africa by its racism, from the opening scene of a Black man being chased by converging trucks in the desert. I won't underline an inference about political economy.