Escape from Sahara

Escape from Sahara (German: Madeleine und der Legionär) is a 1958 West German adventure drama film directed by Wolfgang Staudte and starring Hildegard Knef, Bernhard Wicki and Hannes Messemer.^[1] It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin with location shooting taking place in Cuxhaven and in Tangier in North Africa. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Andrej Andrejew, Fritz Lippmann and Helmut Nentwig. It was part of an upsurge of popular interest in West Germany about France's War in Algeria, particularly Germans serving there.^[2]

Escape from Sahara
Directed by	Wolfgang Staudte
Written by	Emil Burri Werner Jörg Lüddecke Johannes Mario Simmel
Produced by	Otto Meissner Peter Schaeffers Aldo von Pinelli
Starring	Hildegard Knef Bernhard Wicki Hannes Messemer
Cinematography	Václav Vích
Edited by	Martha Dübber
Music by	Siegfried Franz
Production company	Melodie Film
Distributed by	UFA
Release date	21 January 1958 (1958-01-21)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	West Germany
Language	German

Synopsis

A French teacher assists a German serving in the French Foreign Legion who has deserted.

Cast

• Hildegard Knef as Madeleine Durand
• Bernhard Wicki as Luigi Locatelli
• Hannes Messemer as Robert Altmann
• Helmut Schmid as Kilby, Pat
• Joachim Hansen as Kurt Gerber
• Harry Meyen as Jean de Maire
• Leonard Steckel as Ben Achmed
• Werner Peters as Brouillard
• Siegfried Lowitz as Kapitän Gerlach
• Hanita Hallan as Miss. Price
• Manfred Heidmann as Perrier
• Friedrich Gnaß as Germanini
• Ursula Diestel as Lucienne Germanini

References

1. Broadbent & Hake p.123
2. Biess p.93

Bibliography

• Biess, Frank. German Angst: Fear and Democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany. Oxford University Press, 2020.
• Broadbent, Philip & Hake, Sabine. Berlin Divided City, 1945-1989. Berghahn Books, 2010.

External links

• Escape from Sahara at IMDb