For starters, mine is 'Ice Cold in Alex', a British war movie made in the late 1950s and which featured in a Carlsberg add in the early 1990s. Film about two British soldiers (one of them a bit of an alcoholic who is looking forward to a nice cold beer) and a nurse retreating in their military ambulance from Rommel's advance in North Africa. Along the way they pick up a South African officer, who has been separated from his unit. As the film progresses, they are faced with a decision to drive along the coast road and risk being captured by 'Jerry', or to drive across the Qatarra depression, which is described as a rice-pudding with a crust on top... a risky drive in other words with a 3-ton truck.
They are almost captured a couple of times along the way, but the South African officer helps to talk them out of it with the Germans. At another point, the truck is about to bog down in the depression and the South African takes the whole weight of the truck on his back until they are able to get a support underneath. However, the others are suspicious and eventually they catch him with his pants down radioing the Germans and giving them the latest news...
he's a German spy! He tries to hide his radio in some quicksand and almost gets sucked down himself, but the British soldiers manage to pull him out in the nick of time.
Regardless of this, the British soldiers and nurse don't let on that they know about who he is and they push on across the depression. Eventually they reach the edge and are confronted with massive sanddune hills blocking their path, which they somehow have to get the truck over... by this time the poor old truck is on its last legs. They try driving fast but it just bogs down. They decide to drive the truck up the hill backwards, using just the starting handle on the front, which cranks round something or other and moves the wheels slightly. In other words it's a long, tiring and slow process to get it over. In a triumph of effort and true grit they manage to get it over the top by all working together.
They then drive the clapped-out truck to Alexandria (the Alex bit in the film), whereupon they head straight for the bar in typical British fashion and order up four carlsbergs. At the same time, they've called the Military Police who arrive at the bar ready to arrest the German. The British soldier convinces the MPs that this is a simple German officer and should be accorded the necessary rights that go with that... if he'd turned him over as a spy, he would simply have been shot. He also tells the MPs to wait outside while the German finishes his beer, much to their annoyance.
The film then ends with the German being driven away to a prison camp.
Why is it so great. It's a tale of unity in adversity, even amongst sworn enemies. It shows that if we treat each other as human beings, we can achieve the impossible in the face of adverse odds. It's also a tale of kinship in war. It was also ahead of its time in that the nurse wasn't just presented as some flimsy whench, but as an important part of the team who helped to get them out of it. I recommend watching it.
