Freeview film of the day: Ice Cold in Alex
Crossing the desert is thirsty work for John Mills in the film that's more than just a beer commercial
Ice Cold in Alex ★★★★
3.40-6.20pm Film4
Captain John Mills, Sergeant Major Harry Andrews and two nurses, Sylvia Syms and Diane Clare, flee Tobruk and the German Afrika Korps during the Second World War in an old ambulance. Their aim: to drive across the desert to the safety of British lines – no easy task because en route they meet a variety of obstacles, including a minefield and German troops, not to mention Captain Anthony Quayle, an Afrikaner with a mysterious backpack who might not be who he says he is. Good, tense stuff nicely played, especially by Mills, an alcoholic driven on by thoughts of the ice-cold lager that he knows awaits him in Alexandria.
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