Taglines: She challenged the desert, its men, their passions and ignited a bold adventure.
Sahara movie storyline. In 1927 Detroit, Michigan, Dale Gordon, daughter of automobile maker R. J. Gordon, practices racing her father’s fastest and most sophisticated car yet, the Gordon Packard. R. J. has invested nearly his entire fortune in perfecting the vehicle. A potential backer is impressed, but reluctant to fund mass production until he sees the vehicle tested in the most grueling race in the world, the Sahara International Rally.
During a drive to resolve a transmission malfunction, the car crashes, and R. J. is seriously injured. On his deathbed, he tells his daughter that his dream is to win the Sahara Rally and prove the Gordon Packard is the finest automobile in the world. After her father’s passing, Dale enters the race, but must disguise herself as a man to qualify.
Arriving at the start in Morocco, Dale is accompanied by two crewmembers, mechanics “String” and Andy. She and the other competitors are briefed about the warfare between Chambra and Hamancha tribesmen along the desert course, and warned that the tempting, shorter route is more dangerous. Soon after the race begins, Dale removes her male disguise, shocking the other contenders.
Taking String’s advice, she elects to take the short route, along with the zealous German team, led by Von Glessing. While on a break near a water well, the three Americans are captured by Chambra tribesmen and their leering warlord, Rasoul. Dale fights back when Rasoul tries to seduce her and sets fire to his tent. After she flees into the desert at night, the Chambra find her the next day, passed out in the sand, and return her to their camp.
Meanwhile, Von Glessing, who also operates as an arms dealer, sells a machine gun to Lord Beg, the Hamancha tribal leader, who immediately uses the weapon to overpower a group of attacking Chambra. Back in his tent, Rasoul tries to seduce Dale again, but is interrupted by the Chambra ruler, Sheik Jaffar. The handsome, young Jaffar first noticed the beautiful American girl when she arrived in Morocco and declares his own “claim” to her.
Rasoul is reluctant to relinquish ownership of Dale, whom the Chambra call “the blue-eyed demon,” but Jaffar announces he will marry the girl to prove his entitlement to her. Jaffar assures Dale that she and her two teammates are safe under his protection and takes her to a secret waterfall to bathe. Dale allows the charming Jaffar to kiss her, but also tells him why she must return to the race and feels confident he understands.
However, back at the camp, Dale is shocked when Cambridge, Jaffar’s British manservant, informs her that she is expected to marry the sheik, which means she cannot leave. Dale remains defiant about her freedom and refuses to submit. When Lord Beg and the Hamancha tribe launch a surprise attack on the Chambra camp, Dale risks her life to plant explosives in the sand and is responsible for blowing up the Hamancha assault vehicle.
The Chambra cheer and now appreciate the fact that the “demon” girl is on their side, while Lord Beg is dismayed that the American seems to offer protection to his enemy. Meanwhile, Von Glessing gets back into the race after repairing his vehicle that Lord Beg crashed. At the camp, Dale realizes she has fallen in love with Sheik Jaffar and spends the night with him, but sneaks away in the morning to rejoin the rally.
When she drives off in her racecar, Cambridge emerges from the backseat where he was sleeping under a blanket, and is happy to accompany her. Suddenly, Lord Beg’s tribesmen surround the car and capture Dale, while disabling the elderly Cambridge. At their caves, the Hamanchas tear Dale’s clothing and lock her in a cage. Meanwhile, Sheik Jaffar learns of Dale’s capture after a gypsy boy finds Cambridge lying wounded next to the abandoned racecar. Jaffar sets out to save his American bride, and, after some reluctance, Rasoul joins his leader on the difficult mission.
Sahara is a 1984 British-American adventure drama film directed by Andrew McLaglen and starring Brooke Shields, Lambert Wilson, Horst Buchholz, John Rhys-Davies, Ronald Lacey, Cliff Potts, Ya’ackov Ben-Sira, Zehava Twena, Gabi Amrani, Yehuda Elboim and Dina Ledani. The original music score was composed by Ennio Morricone.
Filming began in August with Andrew McLaglen as director. Sahara was partially filmed in the Negev Desert of southern Israel near the city of Elat. The fashions were designed by Valentino who said 1925 was one of his favourite years. “It was a fantastic moment, full of fantasy and ideas,” said the designer. “A time when women changed for tea, and then for dinner and then for a ball.”
Shields later said “It was fun being in Israel for four months and driving a car.” She was injured during filming when she was thrown from a car she was driving. “They’d mounted the camera on the side of the car, and it flipped it over, because they didn’t balance it on the other side. Stuff like that happened all the time.”
“I tried so hard to think of a way to get out of it, but my mind went blank,” she said. “I closed my eyes and let go and something – I think I was being protected from above – put my hands back on the wheels so everyone was flung out and I was hanging on. Then I thought, ‘I’ve got to let go because if I don’t, I’ll be crushed underneath the car.’ She landed on her back and bruised her ribs. “It was the closest I’ve ever come to death, probably.”
Filming ended in February 1983 after which Shields enrolled in Princeton University. “It was enjoyable to be in the Negev desert and in Eilat and sort of in the Dead Sea, but the experience of it and living there for that long was definitely more memorable than the movie itself was,” said Shields.
Sahara (1984)
Directed by: Andrew V. McLaglen
Starring: Brooke Shields, Lambert Wilson, Horst Buchholz, John Rhys-Davies, Ronald Lacey, Cliff Potts, Ya’ackov Ben-Sira, Zehava Twena, Gabi Amrani, Yehuda Elboim, Dina Ledani
Screenplay by: James R. Silke
Production Design by: Luciano Spadoni
Cinematography by: David Gurfinkel, Armando Nannuzzi
Film Editing by: Michael John Bateman, Michael J. Duthie
Costume Design by: Mario Carlini
Set Decoration by: Enzo Eusepi
Art Direction by: John Hoesli
Music by: Ennio Morricone
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: March 2, 1984
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