Station Six Sahara (1963) Brit Film Soleil Noir

"Lust in the dust"

                                                      (moonspinner55 -IMDb)

Directed by Seth Holt (Scream of Fear, Danger Man aka Secret Agent (Man) TV series (1960 -1962) The Nanny). 

Written by Brian Clemens and Bryan Forbes and based on Jean Martet's play Men Without a Past. The Cinematography was by Gerald Gibbs (The Avengers TV series) and Music by Ron Grainer.

Carroll Baker (Baby Doll, Something Wild, Sylvia, Paranoia) as Catherine, Peter van Eyck (Five Graves to Cairo, The Wages Of Fear, The Snorkel) as Kramer, Ian Bannen (Pool Of London, The Flight of the Phoenix) as Fletcher, Denholm Elliott (The Cruel Sea, King Rat, Danger Man aka Secret Agent (Man) TV series (1960 -1962)) as Macey, Hansjörg Felmy (Torn Curtain) as Martin, Mario Adorf (Lulu, The Red Tent, The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, The Tin Drum) as Santos, Biff McGuire (The Phenix City Story, The Thomas Crown Affair, Serpico) as Jimmy, Harry Baird (The Small World Of Sammy Lee, Danger Man aka Secret Agent (Man) TV series (1960 -1962, The Four of the Apocalypse...) as the Sailor.

Carroll Baker as Catherine

Peter van Eyck as Kramer

Hansjörg Felmy as Martin

Ian Bannen as Fletcher

Denholm Elliott as Macey

Mario Adorf as Santos

Biff McGuire as Jimmy

Harry Baird as Sailor

The Story

As an alternative to getting your ass shot off in the French Foreign Legion, Martin who wants to get away from it all (including a broken relationship) hires on as a replacement engineer for the Medina Oil Company's El Sharara oil field pipeline pumping (booster) stations, in the Sahara. 

Martin at Shell Station

El Sharara oil field pipeline 

Station Six - Sahara, 100 miles in either direction to the next in line pump station and further to any of outposts of civilization.

The guy Martin's replacing died. He finds this out from Sailor who is one of the Medina Oil Company drivers. Sailor uses a 1956 Chevy 3100 pickup to ferry people and supplies along the company's pipeline maintenance roads. A coffin lays catty-corner in the box of the pickup. But even then there is not quite enough room and the tailgate is chained partially open. 

Martin and Sailor meet at a Shell gas station (in possibly Ash Shwayrif?) where Sailor tops the gas tank and Martin stows his luggage. Sailor loads some supply crates and last in the bed is a pet canary bird in a birdcage. 

We get a nice montage of the town it's outskirts and then the voyage across the barren Sahara all with a catchy native tune. Along the route are cinder block sheds with corrugated tin roofs that contain water cans to refill boiled out radiators. 

At one of these pit stops, while Sailor is pouring water into the Chevy's radiator, a bus pulls up from the direction they are going, and hookers who service the oil company workers get out to stretch their legs. Sailor tells Martin that it looks like he just missed the once a month "meat" wagon. 

When they get to Station - Six, the truck is first met by Major Macey, an ex British Army engineering technician who is a bit of an uptight twit, the happy go lucky tech Fletcher, and the quiet Santos a mechanic. 

Station Six - Sahara

Macey greets Sailor and Martin

Also on the site are a couple of natives who act as cooks and servants to the men. Sailor and Santos put the dead man into the coffin and Sailor drives off. 

Macey and Martin with Mahmood and another unnamed servant behind them

Martin tells Macey that he's to report to Kramer the foreman. Macey replies that he will see Kramer when Kramer sends for him. Fletcher brings Martin to his bunk in the bunkhouse that they will share with Macey. Fletcher pulls Martin aside and warns Martin that Macey rats out everything that goes on to Kramer. 

Martin also find out that Kramer doesn't even eat with the men. He eats in his own bungalow and only fraternizes with his men when they play poker.

Later when Martin finally meets Kramer the two have strong clashing personalities and they get into a bit of a pissing match, Kramer an American of German descent asks Martin if he was in the German Army. Martin tells him yes, Kramer asks if he was taken prisoner Martin tells him no. Then Kramer asks Martin if he was a good German or a bad  German, Martin doesn't answer and it ends in a truce. 

The men's days are spent maintaining the constantly running pumps, checking the gages, inspecting pipe, joints, valves, etc., etc. 

The pumps

In the evenings, Fletcher looks at his girly magazines and he tauts Macey with the pictures. 

We also get an amusing side story of Fletcher (who never gets any mail) buying for a full month's pay one of Macey's many letters that he receives with regularity. Macey agrees. The catch is that Fletcher is allowed to pic any letter he wants. Fletcher knows that whichever letter he pics it will drive Macey crazy with anxiety and Fletcher teases the hell out of him. 

Fletcher knows that whichever letter he pics it will drive Macey crazy with anxiety and Fletcher teases the hell out of him. 

Another recreation of the men is a Kramer's impromptu poker games. When Martin begs off he is told that they are all required to participate in the game. 

It all goes Noirsville when the game is interrupted by the blaring horn of an approaching vehicle. 

They all go running outside into the compound and watch a 1959 Mercury Montclair drive into the compound and crash into a pyramid of stacked of empty 5 gallon oil drums. 

Unconscious in the car are a man Jimmy and a beautiful woman Catherine. Jimmy is taken into the bunk house with Santos. 

Catherine comes out of it and Kramer graciously gives up his quarters to Catherine. 

Noirsville

Seth Holt ends the film a bit too abruptly, I would have liked to see Catherine run through a couple of more of the station attendants before the finale. Also I don't think I saw any of the actors hardly breaking a sweat and it's supposed to be the Sahara, a head scratcher. So I checked the seasonal temps: 

"Libya’s climate is dominated by the hot arid Sahara, but it is moderated along the coastal littoral by the Mediterranean Sea...  Along the coast, the Mediterranean climate is characterized by a cool rainy winter season and a hot dry summer. The warmest months are July and August, when average temperatures in Benghazi and Tripoli, in the Mediterranean zone, reach between the low 70s and mid-80s F (low to upper 20s C) and the low 60s and mid-80s F (upper 10s and low 30s C), respectively. Inland Average temperatures at Sabhā are in the low 50s F (low 10s C) in January and in the upper 80s F (low 30s C) in July, but these averages mask the fact that temperatures may vary enormously over the course of a day." (Britannica). 

An entertaining Film Soleil. Also known as Endstation 13 Sahara 7.5/10