Tonight's Movie: Action in Arabia (1944)

ACTION IN ARABIA (1944) is an enjoyable WWII "B" film starring the great George Sanders.

Sanders plays a newspaper correspondent who stumbles across complicated wartime intrigue in Damascus. Will the local tribes unite behind the Allies or the Axis?

He deals with an interesting cast of characters, including an American (Virginia Bruce) who seems to have shifting alliances; a peddler of information (Gene Lockhart); an American official (Robert Armstrong) who wants him to leave the city; a tribal chieftain (H.B. Warner) and his daughter (Lenore Aubert); and a hotel owner (Alan Napier) suspected of being in league with the Nazis.

The movie zips along, only 75 minutes long, and the screenplay by Philip MacDonald and Herbert J. Biberman is nicely done, filled with quippy comebacks for both Sanders and Armstrong. I really enjoyed the progression of their relationship as they shift from antagonists to jokey partners in espionage.

Both the interior and exterior sets are of a high caliber for a film of this type; it's impressive what could be done on the backlot! If Wikipedia is accurate, the movie received a significant budget upgrade during production. In addition to the backlot, location filming took place at Lasky Mesa in West Hills.

The film was directed by Leonide Moguy, a Russian-born director who made a few films in the United States, including another good Sanders "B" WWII film, PARIS AFTER DARK (1943). PARIS AFTER DARK was released by 20th Century-Fox.

The movie was filmed in black and white by J. Roy Hunt, who shot countless "B" Westerns over the course of his career. The costumes were by Edward Stevenson, and the musical score was composed by Roy Webb.

The supporting cast also includes Marcel Dalio, John Hamilton, Andre Charlot, Michael Ansara, and Robert Andersen.

ACTION IN ARABIA was released in the United States on VHS in the RKO Collection. It does not appear to have had a U.S. DVD release, but is available on multiple Region 2 DVD releases.

I saw the film thanks to Turner Classic Movies.

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