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Station Six-Sahara (1963)


Five men of disparate nationalities work an oil station in the sweaty Sahara; just as tempers begin to boil over within the group, a sexy girl and her ex-husband invade their territory (or rather, crash it–seems this reckless dame harbors a death wish for herself and her former spouse). Brian Clemens and Bryan Forbes, adapting Jean Martet’s play “Men Without a Past”, invest the dialogue exchanges with interesting give-and-take, but their scenario isn’t inventive or enlightening or even titillating (despite the ads). Certainly the basic thrust of the material–when will the men take advantage of their new arrival–is salacious, however the writers are more interested in probing the human condition and all its faults (although there is some sex involved). Director Seth Holt ably delineates the disintegration of morality and decency among the men, but this woman is something else: a willing pawn in their company, she’s both tease and temptress. Actors Studio alum Carroll Baker seemed to get stuck in a revolving door of sexually-uninhibited characters after “Baby Doll”, yet this role does call for an actual dramatic performance and she delivers.