FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO [1943 /2020] [EUREKA! Entertainment] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] The Story of 5 Secrets That Rommel Couldn’t Keep From A Woman! The Sensational Story of Rommel’s Buried Secrets!
Only the second Hollywood film directed by Billy Wilder, the riveting World War II spy thriller ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ is an underrated early gem from the filmmaker, who would ascend to the industry's highest ranks with his next project, ‘Double Indemnity.’ ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ demonstrates that Billy Wilder and screenwriter Charles Brackett who would collaborate on thirteen films, winning screenplay Oscars® for ‘The Lost Weekend’ and ‘Sunset Boulevard’ were already working at the peak of their powers, delivering an espionage yarn that never lets up on the suspense.
The only survivor in his unit after a battle with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's soldiers in North Africa, British Corporal John J. Bramble [Franchot Tone] staggers through the desert until arriving at the largely deserted Empress of Britain hotel, staffed only by owner Farid [Akim Tamiroff] and his French employee Mouche [Anne Baxter]. While British Corporal Bramble hopes to hide there, the hotel doesn't remain deserted for long as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (a scene-stealing Erich von Stroheim) and his men arrive and take over the building as new headquarters. British Corporal John J. Bramble assumes the identity of a recently killed waiter Paul Davos... only to soon discover that this waiter was also serving as a German spy, a role British Corporal John J. Bramble now has to adopt for his own survival. And while Mouche knows British Corporal John J. Bramble's true identity, she has her own reasons for not wanting to aid in his plot.
Named by Quentin Tarantino as one of his favourite films, ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ is filled with duplicity and danger at every turn. Billy Wilder ratchets up the tension surrounding a disparate group of characters trapped together in wartime, with each hiding their own secrets and their own schemes. The director would soon become one of Hollywood's most lauded talents, but his genius was clearly evident in this early work. The EUREKA! Entertainment Series is proud to present the film for its UK debut on Blu-ray from a new 4K restoration!
PRESS QUOTES:
"Billy Wilder handles the varied story elements, countless suspenseful moments and vivid portrayals in excellent fashion." Variety
"An impressive wartime espionage thriller." Time Out
"Witty and tense." Film4
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1944 Academy Awards®: Nominated: Best Cinematography in Black-and-White for John F. Seitz. Nominated: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration in Black-and-White for Bertram C. Granger, Ernst Fegté and Hans Dreier. Nominated: Best Film Editing for Doane Harrison.
FILM FACT No.2: Production lasted from January 4 to February 20, 1943. It was filmed at Paramount Studios, Hollywood, California, with some exteriors shot on location at the Salton Sea and at Camp Young at the Army Desert Training Center, Indio, California, where, with the cooperation of the Army Ground Forces, a battle sequence was staged, and in Yuma, Arizona. Billy Wilder wanted Cary Grant to play the role of Bramble. Cary Grant was repeatedly asked by Wilder to star in several of his films, but though the two were friends, Cary Grant consistently refused. A Hollywood Reporter news item reported that in November 1942, David O. Selznick had agreed to lend Ingrid Bergman for this film. However, Paramount Pictures instead borrowed Anne Baxter from Twentieth Century-Fox. The Germans are played by German actors and thus speak with the right accent, except for Erich von Stroheim, who had emigrated from Austria to the USA at the age of 24 and whose accent occasionally slips. The British hero is played by an American actor who speaks with an American accent. The German tanks in the film are American M2 light tanks, which were used for training, while the British forces have the American M3 Medium tank which they were using at the time.
Cast: Franchot Tone, Anne Baxter, Akim Tamiroff, Erich von Stroheim, Peter van Eyck, Fortunio Bonanova, Philip Ahlm (uncredited), Kenneth Anspach (uncredited), Roger Creed (uncredited), Leslie Denison (uncredited), John Erickson (uncredited), Bud Geary (uncredited), Frederick Giermann (uncredited), Clyde Jackman (uncredited), Ian Keith (uncredited), Miles Mander (uncredited), Hans Moebus (uncredited), Bill Mussetter (uncredited), Fred Nurney (uncredited), Peter F.U. Pohlney (uncredited), Otto Reichow (uncredited), John Royce (uncredited), Konstantin Shayne (uncredited) and Sam Waagenaar (uncredited)
Director: Billy Wilder
Producers: Buddy G. DeSylva (uncredited) and Charles Brackett
Screenplay: Billy Wilder (screenplay), Charles Brackett (screenplay) and Lajos Biró (play)
Composer: Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography: John F. Seitz, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 96 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal Pictures / EUREKA! Entertainment
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ [1943] It was released while the Second World War raged on and is set during the North Africa campaign. Billy Wilder, an Austrian who started his career in Germany but fled when the Nazis came to power, and who lost several members of his family in the Holocaust, was perhaps keen to make it clear just how ruthless Adolf Hitler’s armed forces could be.
The great director Billy Wilder’s second Hollywood film as a director was the twisting, serpentine war drama ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO.’ Written by Billy Wilder with long-term collaborator Charles Brackett, it’s a melting pot of narrative styles and variety of tones that shift like the desert sands against which the story takes place. The fast pace and sinewy plot strands ensure a surprisingly brisk, jaunty romp for a film released in the midst of the conflict it depicts. It’s no surprise that Billy Wilder’s customary irreverence and fondness for dark humour were already well established, but there are certain elements that are simply irreconcilable.
In June 1942, things looked very black indeed for the British Eighth Army. It was beaten and scattered, and in flight, and Tobruk had fallen. The victorious Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps Military unit were pounding the British and pushing them back towards Cairo and the Suez Canal.
The story begins as British Corporal John J. Bramble [Franchot Tone], the sole survivor of his tank crew, stumbles across the desert, weary and suffering from sunstroke, until he’s taken in by the staff of the “Empress of Britain” hotel. They nurse him back to health, but when Field Marshal Erwin Rommel [Erich von Stroheim] himself checks in, and British Corporal John J. Bramble assumes the identity of a German spy Paul Davos, who had been working undercover as a waiter at the hotel. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel wants him to continue his work, while the duplicitous British Corporal John J. Bramble who is now Paul Davos the waiter who tries to figure out a way to assassinate the German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
It’s an intriguing plot with some clever points, but even though the run time is only a little over 90 minutes, the film itself still feels far too long, as if it’s been padded out. Erich von Stroheim, who would collaborate again with Billy Wilder on the aforementioned ‘Sunset Boulevard,’ steals the show as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, but he has little in the way of competition. Franchot Tone, complete with a sort half-hearted American accent, is miscast as the British Corporal John J. Bramble and Billy Wilder apparently wanted Cary Grant, who would have been far more suitable – while Anne Baxter fails to breathe any life into the token female character Mouche, a Frenchwoman on a mission of her own.
As a result, some critics say that the film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ felt like a missed opportunity and despite this, to my mind it is certainly a good war film. Despite this, I will always love a Billy Wilder film, whatever the circumstances when comes down to the screenplay which is very important for any film.
Idea of making Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s campaign into an exciting fable is by the Hungarian writer Lajos Biró, who did so many successful Ernst Lubitsch screen hits. It affords a vivid picture of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Erich von Stroheim doing a capital job, as his characterization is tailor-made for him.
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is treated respectfully, and even his sleazy adjunct Lieutenant Schwegler [Peter van Eyck] who tries at first to be a sort of heroic, but even worse as the villain, which is something you wouldn’t expect in any Hollywood war film, let alone one made during the Second World War. If anything, ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ has dated better than Billy Wilder’s later, more patriotic ‘Stalag 17’ which is full of dated humour, and depicts the Germans as caricatured idiots, but despite that, I felt that was a really cracking film.
In the film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ there is surprisingly for such a dynamic moving vehicle of a film, there is a minimum of actual battle stuff. Director Billy Wilder handles the varied story elements really well, countless suspenseful moments and vivid portrayals in excellent fashion. In some instances the absence of spoken word or muffled sentences has been pointed up through skilful pantomime and action.
Erich von Stroheim makes Field Marshal Erwin Rommel a compelling antagonist – a consummate soldier, who treats his prisoners fairly and commands respect from his enemies. Even his introduction is brilliantly done where a shot from overhead with his back to the camera, and the shadow of the ceiling fan casting him in light and dark. All we hear is his booming voice, and all we see is the back of his neck, and he makes a vivid impression straight away.
It has totally crackling dialogue and fine scripting by director Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett enhanced by the Lajos Biró original play. Camerawork of John Seitz is outstanding, as is the film editing by Doane Harrison. Use of sound effects, indicating superb recordings, especially during the running gun fight, which is top notch.
Billy Wilder is a director who is epitomised by his witty dialogue, but a film like ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ is great evidence of his versatility as a filmmaker. It might be a bit dry in places, but overall it’s a thrilling adventure, with a really neat twist and strong performances from a great ensemble cast.
BONUS: What is really great is at the start of the film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ is that they have kept the original A Universal Picture that has the translucent wording that goes around the star spangled globe.
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Universal Pictures and EUREKA! Entertainment presents us the film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ with a wonderful stunning Black-and-White 1080p image that was sourced from a new 4K restoration and is of course enhanced with a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The film is consistently impressive sharpness and picture detail and nicely balanced contrast, punchy blacks and a generous tonal range that doesn’t crush shadow detail or burn out on the highlights. Almost all instances of dirt and damage have been cleaned up, the image is very stable in frame and a fine film grain is visible. I’ve not been able to confirm what materials were used for the restoration, but the presence of reel-change cue markers makes it unlikely it was the original negative, which frankly makes the results achieved here all the more remarkable. The image transfer is not quite as impressive as other the other restorations from EUREKA! Entertainment, but despite this slight foible, it still looks really beautiful.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Universal Pictures and EUREKA! Entertainment brings us film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ with just one standard 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio experience and has the expected range restrictions for a film of this age but is otherwise in good shape, with no obvious damage and only the faintest trace of background fluff detectable if you crank up the volume. But despite this, the uncompressed LPCM audio soundtrack serves as providing the film’s original audio presentation, which of course doesn’t really compare to modern standards, but it’s very clear and most importantly authentic to the intended audio viewing experience.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Audio Commentary by Film Scholar Adrian Martin: Here Adrian Martin introduces himself and is here to talk in-depth about the film and take you through the film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO.’ It is a very A typically informative audio commentary from Australian film scholar Adrian Martin, Adrian Martin informs us that this was the second Hollywood film to be directed by Billy Wilder who was involved with the French film ‘Bad Seed’ in 1943. Adrian Martin feels the style of the film in suggesting that the film’s opening scene is worthy of a Samuel Fuller film, and a spot-on observation and also links aspects of the setup and plotting to that of Nicholas Ray’s cult western ‘Johnny Guitar,’ something that definitely hadn’t occurred to me but is convincingly argued here. The film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ was collaboration with Charles bracket especially with the screenplay. The idea for the project was way back at the end of July 1942, and the film was released in cinemas in May 1943, and in those days in Hollywood things happened very fast, especially as it was set in the Second World War. They wanted to play on the scenario of the British and the British Civilisation values, and Charles Brackett had a personal investment in the project. Adrian Martin points out the start of the film with the lone tank trundling through the desert, and made Samuel Fuller very proud, because he actually was fighting in the Second World War. Adrian Martin compares other projects related to the film, where there was a play entitled “Hotel Imperial” and also two previous films like ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ that were a complete flop, so this time they wanted to spice it up to make it a much better version of the film, so they decided to bring in Billy Wilder and Charles Bracket to write a brand new screenplay. The film was actually shot in America and the main location was filmed at the Salton Sea that is a shallow, saline, endorheic Rift Lake on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in the U.S. state of California's Imperial and Coachella valleys and it was very clever use of the American location, and the actual set of the Empress of Britain was actually built, and Adrian Martin thinks it is a cinematic marvel. In Charles Bracket diary, he said about the actress Anne Baxter that she was very plain and like a simple country girl. We also find out that Billy Wilder stayed in one of the rooms of the Empress of Britain building to type more scripts. We find out that with his cinematographer John F. Seitz would walk around the location together working out the scenes to shoot, that is how thorough Billy Wilder is about shooting his films, but they also had the film editor with them to also work out where to edit the film, to also work on the visualisation of the finished film. When we see Erich von Stroheim for the first time, we are told that he had written in his contract that he has the uniform you see in the film and the only one he would wear. In the play “Hotel Imperial” the scenario is very different for the Field Marshal Erwin Rommel character where he was a buffoon and tries to seduce the French character Mouche, and has clothes made for Mouche in the hope of seducing her, and Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett decided to scrap that idea and give the film a much better scenario. On top of all that, Adrian Martin thinks Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett wanted to hint that Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was either A-Sexual or Gay, and that he had a close affinity to his officer Lieutenant Schwegler [Peter van Eyck] that has to report all the time and that Field Marshal Erwin Rommel gets very upset when the Lieutenant Schwegler is shot dead and it sort of clicks when you see Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in bed and orders Mouche to take three steps back. Originally with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in bed, Charles Bracket was called to the set, because Erich von Stroheim was wearing silk pyjamas and had to be persuaded to have more plain pyjamas. On top of all that, Charles Brackett said of Erich von Stroheim, that he was very difficult to work with, could not say his lines, he was very demanding, very argumentative, he was also very demanding of changes in the script, especially his own dialogue, and Charles Brackett also said of Erich von Stroheim is his olderlyness, meaning he was too old, because Adrian Martin thought this was far too harsh, as Erich von Stroheim was only 57 years of age and Charles Brackett was 50 years of age. Adrian Martin thinks the classic comedy moment in the film is when British Corporal John J. Bramble as the waiter Paul Davos offers the Italian Officer General Sebastiano a whisky and General Sebastiano asks what is a J.J. Bramble and Paul Davos is quick to inform the General Sebastiano that the J.J. Bramble is a special blended whisky. Adrian Martin talks about the actor Franchot Tone, where he quoted from Charles Brackett diary, where he comments about the actor, that he was very difficult to work with, had lots of arguments, and also states the actor was not very well known, but feels his plays his character really well, and that his career goes way back to the early 1930s and worked with a lot of famous actors, and said that Franchot Tone tended to acted like Marlon Brando, meaning he was very much a method actor. When British Corporal John J. Bramble has informed the British where the five graves are in Cairo, and we see the tanks going over the barbed wire on an assault on the Germans, we find out they were actually driven by American soldiers, and Charles bracket wanted real soldiers to make it look authentic, even though the soldiers were not actors. Of course at this point in the film, Adrian Martin points out that Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is nowhere to be seen, and of course Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett were watching the news daily on what was happening on the Egyptian campaign, especially the fate of the real Field Marshal Erwin Rommel because the Germans were losing the war, and of course near the end of the desert campaign, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel actually commits suicide. As we see British Corporal John J. Bramble and Farid [Akim Tamiroff] in the “Empress of Britain” hotel and Charles Bracket says about Akim Tamiroff, “The Egyptian, who had only to walk to the grave with British Corporal John J. Bramble, inspired my great respect. This squat little figure, passing between the graves, became an embodied elegy.” Other areas that were covered by Adrian Martin includes information about the lead actors, the design of the main set, the complex and unconventionally structured narrative, the subtle suggestion that Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was either asexual or gay, the way objects are repurposed during the course of the story, the role of masquerades in Billy Wilder’s filmography, and a good deal more. Adrian Martin reads several quotes about the making of the film from co-screenwriter Charles Brackett’s memoires and identifies changes made by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder to the play “Hotel Imperial” by Lagos Biró and also on which it was based, and how this adaptation differs from previous ones. So end another interesting audio commentary, but I felt at times that Adrian Martin tended to ramble on about things that were not very interesting, but apart from that little negative comment, the rest of the audio commentary is quite a good listen and points out some very interesting facts about the making of the film, so it is well worth a listen. This is a fine companion to the film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ and a definite one to listen to.
Special Feature: Billy Wilder On His Early Films [1992] [480i] [1.37:1] [11:15] This short clip is taken from the three-part documentary “Billy, How Did You Do It?” and was directed by Volker Schlöndorff and Gisela Grischow, and focuses on Wilder’s move from Germany to Hollywood and his early work there, up to and including in-depth information about his film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO.’ Here we find Billy Wilder being interviews in his office and most of the time speaks in German which luckily English subtitles are provides, but now and again does speak in English. At the start of the conversation, Billy Wilder says, “People say that when I make a film it is like Lubitsch.” But Billy Wilder feels what he directs is nothing like Lubitsch. Billy Wilder also says, “It’s a different way of thinking, but Lubitsch is difficult to copy. Lubitsch is a director who is not afraid that people won’t understand him . . . unlike those who say 2+ 2 makes 4, and 1 + 3 also makes 4, and 1 + 1 +1 + 1 also makes 4. But Lubitsch says 2 + 2 . . . that’s it. The public has to add it up.” To show you an example, we get a clip from the Lubitsch film ‘Ninotchka’ [1939] that starred Greta Garbo that Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Walter Reisch that were involved with the screenplay and it is about Ninotchka coming to Paris from Moscow to sell some crown jewels. Billy Wilder says, “She arrives in Paris and in the hall of the Ritz Hotel . . . there are rows of displays . . . dresses, jewellery . . . and in one window are three chic hats, but Ninotchka goes over the top where she stops and says, “What’s that,” and complains about women putting on decadent hats on their heads.” While the clip is playing, Billy Wilder says, “Now comes the famous Lubitsch key scene, where Ninotchka opens the door to her bedroom . . . closes the bedroom door . . . she then opens a small chest . . . making sure nobody is watching her . . . then takes out one of the three chic hats . . . and looks in the mirror. And we know this woman has been corrupted.” Then we see Billy Wilder with Volker Schlöndorff in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery where Ernest Lubitsch is buried, where Billy Wilder regularly visits his grave, because both Billy Wilder and Ernest Lubitsch both escaped Nazi Germany at the same time to settle in Hollywood. Here we see Billy Wilder back in his office and says, “They resented directors who wrote their own screenplays. People ask me as a director, should I be able to write, and I say to them, “What is important is that he is able to read?” Then we get a short clip from the film ‘The Major and The Minor’ [1942] that starred Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. Then Billy Wilder says, “I went to Lubitsch and told him that tomorrow morning I start shooting my first film ‘The Major and The Minor’ and I will be shitting my pants.” And Lubitsch said, “I’ve made 70 films . . . and I still shit my pants.” Billy Wilder is asked if he spoke to Lubitsch in German or English? And says, “English. Well, not always. Via my Agent – I later made the Lindbergh film ‘The Spirit of St. Louis’ [1957] with him – I was a great friend of Ginger Rogers” and we get to see several clips from the film ‘The Major and The Minor.’ Billy Wilder says, “There was a young actor, he’d been in the Coldstream Guards – and an Englishman, Ray Milland. I had a film editor, the best advisor I ever had . . . Doane Harrison. I shot fast, with few camera positions as possible, but nothing . . . tricky. If the spectator asks how did he do it? . . . if they notice the camera, you’re lost.” We also get clips from ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO,’ which is based on a play entitled “Hotel Imperial.” At that point with the interview it suddenly ends abruptly and we get the end credits. The only thing with this short extract interview, Billy Wilder hardly talks about the film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO,’ and I cannot see the point of including this interview on this EUREKA! Entertainment Blu-ray disc, very strange.
The full documentary is included on the Masters of Cinema Series Blu-ray release of ‘The Long Weekend’ and given that it runs for well over three hours and covers Billy Wilder’s entire career and is partnered with one of the director’s finest films, this Blu-ray disc is every true film fan should already own or at the very least be planning to purchase one.
Special Feature: "Five Graves To Cairo" episode of The Lux Radio Theatre [Audio only] [1943] [1080p] [1.78:1] [59:40] The Lux Radio Theatre presented "Five Graves To Cairo" on the 13th December, 1943 and was Sponsored by: Lux. The excellent story of the double-cross of Field Marshal Rommel in the African desert. The (possible) final commercial and system cue have been deleted. Plus, ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ provides both mystery and romance and has the same stars who made millions of hearts skip a beat in their adventures in that 1943 Paramount picture, Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter. The setting of the play is the Egyptian desert at the high tide of the German advance and the people are a British soldier, a young French girl and a rather well known Nazi Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The production is also quaintly dated by an appeal for American households to save food fat to help the war effort and I have to admit this was a new one on me, and one in which host Cecil B. DeMille admits to not being much good in the kitchen, which is why he leaves the explanations to “a housewife.” Hmm? Cast: Anne Baxter, Fortunio Bonanova, Denis Green, Ed Harvey, Edward Harvey, J Carrol Naish, Otto Preminger, Doris Singleton, Duane Thompson and Franchot Tone. Billy Wilder (screenwriter). Charles Brackett (screenwriter).
Theatrical Trailer [1943] [1080i] [1.37:1] [2:13] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO.’ This is a by-the-numbers trailer that seems to sell the film as a true story, but Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was real enough and the trailer includes footage from the climactic scenes, so I would steer clear until after watching the film itself.
BONUS: Reversible printed sleeve featuring original artwork and a Black-and-White scene from the film.
PLUS: FIRST PRESSING ONLY: A beautiful collector’s 32 page booklet featuring new writing by critic Richard Combs entitled LOOKING UP THE MAGICIANS SLEEVE – BILLY WILDER AND ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO.’ New writing by Simon Ward entitled QUENTIN TARANTINO, ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ AND THE RULES OF THE GAME. An 1944 archival article about Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett by Lincoln Barnett entitled THE HAPPIEST COUPLE IN HOLLYWOOD. Plus: VIEWING NOTES; SPECIAL NOTE, Blu-ray Credits and rare promotional black-and-white photographs.
Finally, ‘FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO’ is a riveting, character-driven espionage Second World War thriller film, and made special by a cracking script from the Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder team, excellent performances, smart direction, and one of the best character introductions I’ve seen in a war film from any period. Peppered with intelligent twists and witty dialogue, it tells a rattling good tale and is for me the war film that really announced Billy Wilder as a major filmmaking talent, and one that he would go on to make good on time and again. The restoration and transfer on this Blu-ray disc is first-rate, as is the audio commentary and the booklet, while the perfectly serviceable radio adaptation helps to make the case for why the film is so good. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
