Ice Cold in Alex [Blu-ray] [1958]

Finally, one of the greatest ever British war films comes to the format it was destined for. A tense, thrilling war picture and a superbly written and acted character study with career-best performances from some of the finest actors Britain has ever produced, `Ice Cold in Alex' is a film that demands respectful treatment in the transfer to high definition, and Optimum have more than risen to the challenge, providing a simply stunning Blu Ray that doesn't so much push the boundaries of what older films can look like on Blu Ray as it does smash clean through them.

Put simply, this is one of the very finest black and white high definition transfers I have ever seen, with a level of detail and clarity that is simply staggering. Whilst the old standard DVD was very presentable, this new restoration blows it clean out of the water. Gilbert Taylor's razor-sharp cinematography has never and will never look better than it does here. Fine object detail is beyond criticism, with the numerous desert vistas providing a visual treat, and close-ups revealing every pore of skin and bead of sweat, enhancing the gritty feel of the film. Grading is exceptional, with a deep and rich greyscale and no evidence of clipping even in the brighter scenes. Digital tampering is kept to a minimum, with a natural film-like look present throughout. The use of modern `sprocketless' telecine transfer means that there is no evidence of telecine wobble, with the image remaining rock steady from the first frame to the last.

As with Optimum's release of `The Dam Busters', the original BBFC censor card has been retained, another lovely little touch that helps to set this release apart.

Sound is also good, presented as a 2 channel mono PCM track. Whilst the dynamic range is slightly limited by the inherent age of the source material, dialogue is clear throughout and effects such as gun blasts are deep and rich. Leighton Lucas' underrated and stirring score is particularly nice to hear in an uncompressed format. The track is a completely acceptable presentation for a film of this vintage.

An interview with Sylvia Syms, home movie footage by John Mills, a trailer and behind-the-scenes stills gallery round the disc out with the special features.

All in all, Optimum Releasing and the individuals responsible for the transfer itself should be congratulated for putting such extensive effort into the restoration of `Ice Cold in Alex', ensuring its survival in the best possible way for many years to come, and I would recommend this Blu Ray to fans of the film and newcomers alike without reservation. If you want to see the best of British film on the best of British Blu Ray, look no further!

This is a terrific story of courage and endurance in the desert during WW2. John Mills (with terrible dyed blonde hair) is a British ambulance officer with a drink problem, who escapes the seige of Tobruk and has to get his passengers safely to Alexandria. With him is a stalwart sergeant (Harry Andrews) a mysterious South African (Anthony Quayle) and a gorgeous nurse (Sylvia Sims). This simple yet gripping story follows their struggles to get to Alexandria, evading capture by Germans. All the performances are first rate. The film contains what is for me, the most agonising scene in any movie. It's the excruciating moment when they've spent hours painfuly pushing the ambulance up a mountain of sand, and Syliva Sims unwittingly lets go of the crank and the amublance slides all the way down to the bottom again. I just die with mortification for her every time I see this scene, I am just SO sorry for her, and the men are all so NICE about it, which makes it even worse. And then of course there's that completely and utterly memorable scene at the end where they're in the bar in Alex and finally get their ice-cold beers. It really is worth waiting for. Marvellous film.

Four people in an ambulance are struggling to cross the hot, blinding North African desert on their way from Tobruk to Alexandria. It's 1942 and Rommel's Africa Corps is just about to take Tobruk and continue its race to Egypt. There is Captain Anson (a blond John Mills), an ambulance officer stressed to the breaking point and just this shy of being an alcoholic; Sergeant Major Tom Pugh (Harry Andrews), a big, capable lifer who has been with Anson for several months and knows his weaknesses; Diana Murdoch (Sylvia Syms), a nurse who was stranded in Tobruk, who has a steady hand but has seen her friend, another nurse, die in an attack on the ambulance; and Captain van der Poel (Anthony Quayle), a strong, swaggering South African they meet in a deserted outpost. Captain Anson is persuaded to let van der Poel join them because van der Poel has three bottles of gin with him. He also carries something in a knapsack he refuses to let out of his sight.

Ice Cold in Alex is one of the best of the war movies Britain produced in the Fifties. It sets up a small group of people on a tense journey through a desolate landscape in a broken-down ambulance. We get to know these people...and we begin to worry whether Captain Anson is going to lose it every time he gets close to a bottle; whether van der Poel is truly a South African or a German spy; whether it will be Sergeant Pugh, or Nurse Syms, or van der Poel who'll get killed in one of the dangerous situations they encounter. And the movie has plenty of well-directed, tense situations coming one after the other. The four of them encounter mine fields that must be crossed, sand storms, Nazi ambushes and pursuits, capture by German troops they must talk their way out of (with van der Poel coming in handy), mechanical breakdowns and quicksand. And if there is one lesson they all learn, it's to never park your vehicle on the top of a giant sand dune.

The movie is unusual in that the hero is damaged goods. John Mills is excellent in portraying Captain Anson as a determined and stalwart British officer. He's even better at showing this man just a bit too eager for a drink, too quick to justify it, too close to breaking down when things don't work out. Mills was not a big man, and he has to dominate the movie next to two very big men, Harry Andrews and Anthony Quayle. Both are nearly a head taller than Mills. In one scene Mills as Anson collapses and Quayle must pick him up, carry him several steps to the rear of the ambulance and deposit him inside. This is all done in one shot. Quayle looks as if he's dealing with no more than a 50 pound bag of flour, yet Mills is definitely the one we watch during the movie. His Captain Anson may be falling apart, but he is determined to get the ambulance and its passengers to Alexandria. While he struggles to do so we can see that he's slowing pulling himself together. It's a nice performance. There also is almost no distraction from artificial romance. There is only the faintest hint of a possible relationship developing between Nurse Murdoch and Captain Anson, just a brief moonlight nuzzle and, much later, a realistic recognition of Anson's continuing demons and the difficulty of making personal plans in wartime. The movie also gives a much more subtle approach to the German enemy. At the conclusion, while the four of them are finally enjoying an ice-cold lager in an Alexandrian bar, one of them points out that, working together, they beat the desert, which was a bigger enemy than...well, you'll need to see the movie.

For those who like well-constructed films that don't let up, who like good performances and who like older British films, Ice Cold in Alex is worth having. The DVD transfer is just fine.