A Yank in Libya (1942)

You won't be disappointed!

Excellent, a Must See

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

An American reporter in Libya discovers that the Nazis are trying to arm the Arabs and assist them in rising up against the British. Several people eventually combine to foil the plot. Sounds promising but it is mainly flat and tedious with huge amounts of stock footage that hardly matches the original footage. As Mike Malone the reporter Walter Woolf King is rather irritating and the talented Joan Woodbury doesn't have much to do as the main female lead. The two match up at the end but there is hardly a spark between them. Fortunately there is H.B. Warner as the British Consul and Harry Parke (aka Parkyarkarkus) to liven the film up when they are on screen. Several actors wear beards and try to look like Arabs without much success. Amarilla Morris portrays an exotic dancer and is pleasing to look at but apart from her gyrating hips there is not much to get excited about.

Mediocre War-time tale set in the sands of Libya. An American war correspondent, Mike Malone(Walter Woolf King)stumbles on possibly the story of his career. His mission to Libya turns out to be more adventure than he bargained for. Malone stumbles upon a Nazi plot for an uprising of Arab tribes. He pilfers a German made rifle for proof of what he has discovered and after being chased across the desert, he has a pretty stranger(Joan Woodbury) hide the weapon for him. He goes to British Intelligence for help and learns they already know of the plot. Double-crossings, secret alliances, barroom brawls and a belly dancer(Amarilla Morris) keeps the action going. Other players: H.B. Warner, Duncan Renaldo and Harry Parke.

This gloriously silly "rah rah" America film was made right after the American entry in World War 2. Its a wild romp with a jerk for a lead but enough jokes action and mismatched stock footage to be a great deal of fun in the right frame of mind.This is the story of Mike Malone an American reporter in Libya. He comes upon a plot of the Nazi's to arm the Arabs and fight the British. He steals a rifle and high tails it back to the nearest city. He crashes into the room of a nice "British" girl, leaves her the gun and then heads out the window, telling her to hide the gun from pursuing Arabs. Malone goes to the British consulate where he's thought balmy, doubly so after a visit to the girl turns up no gun. Malone then struggles to prove his story, while the British try to prevent the Arab uprising and keep an eye on the German in their midst.This movie is very funny, often for the wrong reasons. Malone, played by Walter Woolf King, is the worst an American be: cocksure, boorish, a jerk and insufferable. He's horribly unlikeable and comes close to sinking the movie, but he doesn't mostly because he's so over inflated as to be a joke. He is nicely counter balanced by the rest of the cast who are damn near spot in their portrayals of what should be cardboard characters. Clearly they are going to go for it even if the buffoon in the middle isn't. I have to single out Harry Parke aka Parkyarkarkus, as a guy from Brooklyn posing as an Arab razor blade salesman. Parke is a joy to be hold as a calm cool man of action and witty remarks. Clearly he knows whats going on even when everyone else doesn't. The character of Parkyarkarkus was Parke's patented character from radio and he's basically doing the same shtick here to great effect. (A side note: Parke, real last name Einstein, is not only known for fathering Super Dave Osbourne and Albert Brooks, but also dropping dead in Milton Berle's lap during a Friar's roast of Lucille Ball).Technically this movie is a mess. Clearly shot on stages and back lots, it also makes a great deal of stock footage, none of which matches any of the other footage in the film. It makes for a "bigger" movie but often surreal effect as in the case of a bar room brawl that suddenly is in a room three times the size it started in and involves ten times more people. Its funny for all the wrong reasons.And I really liked this movie. There is something so loopy about it that made me like it infinitely more than I should have. Its not a great movie but some how the plot is involving and the knowing humor takes enough of the edge off the crappy parts that you really don't mind its low rent birth.Worth a bucket of popcorn and a soda.8 out of 10 if you're in the right frame of mind. 5 out of 10 if you're not.

Although this film stars H.B. Warner, he is certainly not the central character, that role being fulfilled by Walter Woolf King, a little known actor, who portrays an American war correspondent who has unearthed a Nazi plot to foment a rebellion among the Arab tribes. In fact, Warner's part is rather minor. The story is pedestrian but the acting is good. There is not much big action, the only scenes promising it being at the end of the film, but, it doesn't come off. The chief of the attacking Arabs, making a sudden recovery from a Luger bullet at close range, prevents it. It turns out a small medallion on his chest stopped the bullet!Neither Leonard Maltin nor Martin and Porter list this film in their filmograhies. I got it on DVD in a budget set of eight "War Classics". The plot of a Nazi conspiracy to foment a revolt of the Arab tribes in Libya is the nearest it gets to WWII. The sheik is played by Duncan Renaldo, perhaps better known as the Cisco Kid both in film and on TV. The Arab villain is portrayed by the prolific George J. Lewis with whom any fan of serials would be familiar, being a stock villain in that genre. He only appeared in about 260 films! Some comic relief is supplied by Parkyakarkas posing as an Arab selling razor blades!