Rope of Sand
Savage Greed...Sultry Love...Wild Adventure!
1949 | 104m | English
Popularity: 1 (history)
| Director: | William Dieterle |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Walter Doniger |
| Staring: |
| Story of a South African diamond mine watched over by a sadistic policeman tasked with looking out for smugglers. | |
| Release Date: | Aug 03, 1949 |
|---|---|
| Director: | William Dieterle |
| Writer: | Walter Doniger |
| Genres: | Adventure, Drama, Thriller |
| Keywords | |
| Production Companies | Paramount Pictures |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Aug 09, 2025 Entered: Apr 20, 2024 |
![Rope of Sand (1949) Original Trailer [HD]](/extra_thumbs/rFvJXB4XcT4.jpg)
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Burt Lancaster | Michael (Mike) Davis |
| Paul Henreid | Commandant Paul G. Vogel |
| Claude Rains | Arthur 'Fred' Martingale |
| Peter Lorre | Toady |
| Corinne Calvet | Mademoiselle Suzanne Renaud aka Aniseneletette Duringreaud |
| Sam Jaffe | Dr. Francis Kittridge Hunter |
| John Bromfield | Thompson (guard) |
| Mike Mazurki | Pierson (guard) |
| Kenny Washington | John |
| Edmund Breon | Parker, Chairman of the Board |
| Hayden Rorke | Ingram |
| David Thursby | Henry (bartender) |
| Josef Marais | South African Veldt Singer |
| Miranda Marais | South African Veldt Singer |
| Everett Brown | Batsuma Chief |
| Russell Custer | Poker Game Spectator (uncredited) |
| Georges Renavent | Jacques -- Headwaiter (uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Warren Low | Editor |
| Walter Doniger | Screenplay, Story |
| Hans Dreier | Art Direction |
| John Paxton | Additional Dialogue |
| Grace Gregory | Set Decoration |
| Richard McWhorter | Assistant Director |
| Robert McCrellis | Props |
| Ed Fitzharris | Wardrobe Designer |
| William Dieterle | Director |
| Franz Waxman | Original Music Composer |
| Charles Lang | Director of Photography |
| Franz Bachelin | Art Direction |
| Sam Comer | Set Decoration |
| Edith Head | Costume Design |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Hal B. Wallis | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| 2024 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 3 |
| 2024 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| 2024 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 3 |
| 2024 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
| 2024 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| 2024 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| 2024 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| 2024 | 12 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| 2025 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Trending Position
Paul Henreid is actually quite menacing here, as the domineering commandant "Vogel". He is charged with making sure that nothing is smuggled out of the diamond mines under his charge. Burt Lancaster ("Davis") arrives back after a previous encounter with this nemesis, this time determined to retrace ... his steps and recover the large treasure he was forced to abandon previously. What now ensues delivers us a pretty well-trodden narrative as these two men try to outwit the other. The duplicitous mine manager "Martingale" (Claude Rains) alights on a cunning plan to get "Suzanne" (Corinne Calvet) to use her wiles on "Davis" to try and discover the location of the lode - but she has other ideas! With the seedy "Toady" (Peter Lorre) also whispering in his ear too, the scene is set for quite a tense battle of wills. The cast looks great on paper, and Lancaster and Rains are good, too - but somehow it doesn't quite click. The story takes far too long to get underway, and when the it does it rushes through a series of set-piece scenarios before an ending that I found rather too predictable.