Five Graves to Cairo

"Did a Woman Start the Rout of Rommel?"

1943 1h 36m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.0TMDB · 159🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes★7.3IMDB · 7,470

WarThrillerDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

During the 1942 North African campaign, a British straggler passes as a waiter at the hotel commandeered as Erwin Rommel's headquarters. He has thoughts of assassinating Rommel but his cover may provide an even better use.

“Did a Woman Start the Rout of Rommel?”

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Cast

Franchot Tone
Cpl. John J. Bramble / Paul Davos
Anne Baxter
Mouche
Akim Tamiroff
Farid
Erich von Stroheim
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Peter van Eyck
Lt. Schwegler
Fortunio Bonanova
Gen. Sebastiano
Philip Ahlm
Second Soldier (uncredited)
Roger Creed
Fourth Soldier (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder
Languages: English, Italian, German
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

83 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Italian, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Billy Wilder, shot by John F. Seitz. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Miklós Rózsa. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Doane Harrison shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter and Akim Tamiroff carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Did a Woman Start the Rout of Rommel?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Billy Wilder directs. John F. Seitz behind the camera. Miklós Rózsa scores. Doane Harrison cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
283 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Italian, German.
4Directed by Billy Wilder, shot by John F. Seitz. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Miklós Rózsa. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Doane Harrison shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter and Akim Tamiroff carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Did a Woman Start the Rout of Rommel?".
9IMDB entry: tt0035884 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 14 themes, including "hotel", "egypt", "world war ii", "grave".
11Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: John F. Seitz
Original score: Miklós Rózsa
Editing: Doane Harrison
Costume design: Edith Head
Makeup / hair: Wally Westmore
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $855,000
Box office: $1,200,000
Return: 140% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Five Graves to Cairo (1943)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 7,470 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 3 Oscars. 3 nominations total

Also by

Billy Wilder

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-06-25
★ 8/10
We shall take that big fat cigar out of Mr. Churchill's mouth and make him say Heil. Five Graves to Cairo is directed by Billy Wilder who also co-adapts the screenplay with Charles Brackett. It's based on the Lajos Biró play Hotel Imperial. It stars Franchot Tone, Anne Baxter, Akim Tamiroff, Erich von Stroheim and Peter Van Eyck. Music is by Miklós Rózsa and cinematography by John Seitz. Tone plays John Bramble, the sole survivor of a British tank division who stumbles into a near deserted desert town only to find it suddenly fills up with Field Marshall Rommel and his troops. Assuming the identity of a dead waiter at the hotel run by Farid (Tamiroff), Bramble gains the trust of everyone only to learn that the waiter he is pretending to be was actually a secret agent for the Germans. If he can keep up the pretence and not get found out, Bramble could have great impact on the North Africa Campaign. A cracker is this, an early Billy Wilder film that thrives on tension and clever plotting while pulsing with a great literate strength. Cast are more than capable of making the material work as well, with Tone nicely restrained, Baxter very touching (decent French accent too) and Von Stroheim a ball of emotions as a complex laden Rommel. Tech credits are grade "A" stuff, the sound department and Seitz's photography especially lifting the picture still further to classic status. This is no high energy war movie, it's character driven but all the better for it, with Wilder even slotting in moments of humour to sit alongside the sharper edges of the dialogue. From the sombre opening of a tank aimlessly trudging across the desert - the pilot hanging dead from the turret - to a very touching finale involving a parasol, Wilder's movie holds the attention greatly throughout. A masterful story brought to us by a master director. 8/10

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