Movie review - "The Rats of Tobruk" (1944) ** (re-viewing)

The drop in quality between this and Forty Thousand Horsemen is remarkable. That film had so much energy and pep. This starts well with loving shots of cattle in the outback but is soon bogged down by Peter Finch's dreary narration. It was like Chauvel had made too many pompous self important propaganda documentaries during the war and it leaked into this movie.

Finch introduces himself and his mates Rafferty and Taylor who are never allowed to have any fun. The characterisations are fine, all three are capable - Finch is an improvement over Pat Twohill, just dull. The concept of a writer getting to know Australians isn't very exciting - why not have him a man in disgrace or something.

Taylor has a decent character to play - shiftless, womanising, brave. But he's a downer too. You don't see him having any fun womanising. It's all glum.

I liked Pauline Garrick as Kate the squatter's daughter but she's a misery guts. Mary Gay's nurse is a pure trope though she makes sense from the delusional mind of Peter Finch.

Chauvel's tendency was to melodrama with location shooting. I think he was hampered here by the fact he couldn't go full melodrama - or didn't want to.  I did like how Finch would write to Garrick which made Taylor jealous.I think they should have made this a proper love triangle - it would have given the piece some meat. Or had love triangle with Mary Gay.

Some of the visuals are impressive - the night fighting, the dingy trenches. But it's a movie of scenes and moments rather than a coherent narrative. Those scenes include vaudeville bits - they run into Joe Vallie to do some comic acting in the sand dunes, and George Wallace does some wacky antics with a barber chair. Then there's a tacked on finale in New Guinea.

The movie is definitely of historical interest but it's lame.