No Time to Die
| No Time to Die | |
|---|---|
 US release film poster | |
| Directed by | Terence Young |
| Produced by |
Irving Allen Albert Broccoli associate Phil C. Samuel |
| Written by |
Richard Maibaum Terence Young |
| Based on | story by Merle Miller |
| Starring |
Victor Mature Leo Genn Bonar Colleano Anthony Newley |
| Cinematography | Ted Moore |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates | 1958 |
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
No Time to Die (US title Tank Force) is a 1958 film about an American sergeant in the British Army during the Second World War.
Plot
In North Africa during the Second World War, a squadron of British tanks is destroyed in battle by panzers of their German adversaries.
A tank commanded by American Sgt. David Thatcher (Victor Mature) is hit and he and driver Trooper "Tiger" Noakes (Anthony Newley) bail out. The squadron's attached reconnaissance vehicle, commanded by Sgt. Kendall (Leo Genn), becomes stuck in the sand and the crew bail out, too.
The three survivors are quickly captured and transported to an Italian run POW camp. Thatcher has a secret and tries to escape at every turn. Puzzled by this, the German laison officer, Hauptmann Ritter (Alfred Burke), makes enquiries and finds out that Thatcher is wanted by the Gestapo for an attempt to kill Joseph Goebbels years before. Before the Gestapo officer can place him under arrest, Thatcher, Noakes and Kendall escape along with a Pole (Bonar Colleano) and Bartlett an Australian (Sean Kelly) in the camp's ambulance.
They stop at an Italian cafe where Thatcher and Noakes had been billeted earlier in the desert campaign. After a run-in with some Italian soldiers which leads to the death of the cafe owner (Luciana Paluzzi), they resume their journey.
The group is captured by Arabs who kill Bartlett and take the rest to their camp, where the Sheikh contacts the Gestapo and makes a deal. A Gestapo officer (Martin Boddey) arrives along with Ritter and tortures Thatcher, much to the horror of Ritter, who is an honourable soldier. Ritter helps Thatcher's party escape, then commits suicide before the Gestapo can get to him. Kendall and the Pole are seriously wounded and the Gestapo officer is killed.
The group comes upon a lone panzer and Thatcher, Noakes and the Pole kill its crew, the Pole sacrificing himself. Stealing the panzer, Noakes, Thatcher and Kendall head towards Allied lines but get caught up in another tank battle. The panzer is hit and they are forced to abandon it. Kendall dies of his wounds.
Thatcher and Noakes join up with a British tank squadron which has won the battle. The film ends with Thatcher and Noakes burying their comrade Kendall.
Cast
- Victor Mature as Sgt. David Thatcher
- Leo Genn as Sgt. Kendall
- Anthony Newley as Noakes
- Bonar Colleano as the Pole
- Luciana Paluzzi as Carola
- Sean Kelly as Bartlett
- Kenneth Fortescue as Johnson
- Anne Aubrey as Italian girl
- George Coulouris as Camp commandant
- Alfred Burke as Captain Ritter
- David Lodge as Maj. Fred Patterson
- Maxwell Shaw as the Sheikh
- Alan Tilvern as Silverio
- George Pravda as German Sgt.
- Percy Herbert as 1st British soldier
- Kenneth Cope as 2nd British soldier
- Robert Rietty as Alberto
- Martin Boddey as Gestapo Colonel
- Richard Marner as German colonel
- Peter Elliott as Italian officer
- Julian Sherrier as 2nd Italian officer
- Robert Bruce as Italian driver
- Bob Simmons as Mustapha
- Andrea Malindrinos as Italian cook
Production
The film was based on a 1954 novel by Ronald Kemp.[1][2] Warwick Productions bought the film rights in 1955 and tried to get Montgomery Clift to star.[3] Sy Bartlett was assigned to write the script.[4]
In March 1957 Merle Miller was hired to rewrite the script.[5] Then Richard Maibaum did a draft. The script eventually became about five Allied soldiers, two Englishmen, a Pole, an American and an Australian, who escape an Italian POW camp in the Second World War.[6]
Alan Ladd was mentioned as a possibility as star.[7] In April 1957 Terence Young arrived in Hollywood to find two American leading men for the film.[8] Van Johnson, who had just made a film with Young, was a leading contender.[9] Jeff Chandler turned down the role (and fee of $200,000).[10]
In August 1957 Victor Mature signed a two picture contract with Warwick, No Time to Die and The Man Inside.[11]
In September Mature left England for six weeks of location filming in the Libyan Desert, near Tripoli. The Queens Bays Tank Regiment assisted in production of the film.[6]
No Time to Die featured authentic war time Cromwell tanks as well as post-war Centurions and Charioteers as both British and German tanks. In the opening battle Leo Genn commands an AEC Armoured Car and wears the beret of the Cherry Pickers.
Sean Kelly was a South African actor who had been signed by Warwick to a seven year contract.[12]
References
- ↑ Display Ad 45 -- No Title The Observer (1901- 2003) [London (UK)] 17 Oct 1954: 9.
- ↑ "NOVELS.. REVIEWED BY GORDON STEWART This school was tough". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 13 August 1955. p. 40. Retrieved 8 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ 'No Time to Die' Bought for Clift; Heflin Will Star in 'Distant Paths' Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 16 July 1955: 15.
- ↑ REPUBLIC TO FILM SERLING TV PLAY: Studio Acquires 'Taps on a Bugle,' Third Work Sold by Author of 'Patterns' By THOMAS M. PRYORSpecial to The New York Times.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 16 July 1955: 12.
- ↑ Of Local Origin New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 13 Mar 1957: 25.
- 1 2 MOVIELAND EVENTS: Mature, Genn Will Migrate to Desert Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 04 Sep 1957: C9.
- ↑ 'No Time to Die' Likely for Ladd; Western Film Proposed for Brando Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 30 Mar 1957: B3.
- ↑ 'No Time to Die' Bids for Americans; Cooper Classic Soon to Start Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 18 Apr 1957: C13.
- ↑ Johnson Ponders London Film Role Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) [Chicago, Ill] 31 May 1957: a3.
- ↑ Bernice Block Will Produce Shocker Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 15 Aug 1957: B8.
- ↑ STUDIO SUSPENDS KIM NOVAK PACT: Columbia Acts After She Refuses Paramount Role-- Debbie Reynolds to Star Nature Has Its Way Special to The New York Times.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 31 Aug 1957: 18.
- ↑ Newcomers Win Capital Film Breaks; Robinson to Enact Mad Bomber Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 09 Feb 1957: B3.