Action in Arabia (1944)

Our old favorite, George Sanders, stars in this one, and is at his suave best. He is an international correspondent in the Middle East at a time when it is a hotbed of intrigue from World War II. Robert Anderson is his colleague. He is approached by Gene Lockhart, who is trying to sell information about the Nazis. He meets Virginia Bruce at a casino and dances with her. She is in Damascus with a sick aunt. While they are visiting on the balcony, Sanders is called out by the police to identify Anderson's body. He goes to the American embassy, but they advise him to leave  as scheduled on his plane the next day.

Sanders goes into the city to try to trace Anderson's path. Lockhart keeps bothering him. He learns from a camel driver that Andre Chalot (Bruce's uncle) is a Nazi collaborator. He goes to their house, kisses her, and asks her why she is pretending to be Chalot's niece. She tells him she is protecting him from "certain people" who want him kept out of the way while he is in Damascus. She tries to keep him there, and as he leaves several gunmen come out of the woodwork. However, the police are watching and run them off. The police intend to take him to the airport, but he convinces them that they need to foil the Nazi plot. He and a policeman (Robert Armstrong) commandeer a plane and fly over a gathering of the Arab tribes. Something is going on, and Sanders leaves Armstrong to guard Lockhart at the plane as he investigates.

Sanders finally gets to the sheik and makes his case. The Nazis shoot down the sheik's men. Sanders shoots the head Nazi, but the Nazi shoots Armstrong. Bruce, Sanders, Lockhart and the shiek make their escape, taxing the plane just ahead of the Nazis. In the meantime the Arab tribes are rallying on the Nazi side. However, the shiek arrives at the gathering just in time to turn the tide. Sanders and Bruce fly back to the United States and presumably live happily ever after.




Bruce


Chalot