Anyone know the name of the Bar in Alexandria that John Mills has a glass of Carlsberg ? It was at Elstree Studios. Ice-Cold in Alex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The final scene, in which Mills' character finally gets his glass of lager, was reportedly filmed some weeks after the rest of the film, at Elstree Studios. Real lager had to be used to 'look right', and Mills had to drink numerous glassfuls until the shots were finished, and was "a little 'heady'" by the end. YouTube - ice cold in alex Colleagues; I have just received the DvD and watched it. I liked the film very much but there is something I have to tell about the final scene: The square and all those buildngs do still exist. There is even a 'coffee shop' between the large columns. Only the cathedral in the background is now a mosque. So far so good. But it is definitely not Alexandria but Tripoli in Libya. So, Drew, you won't have to drive that far....
You mean ride Cheers kuno..I guess it makes sense to look at the credit at the end for the filmed on location information. I assume in those days budgets were so tight that as much as possible the filming was in the same place. Glad you enjoyed the film.....I think it is rather good
LMAO then I'm one up on you - the year after next I'm taking a long summer and pointing the bike at the outdoor locations for Ill Met By Moonlight...but I only have to go to the South of France!!!
Colleagues; I have just received the DvD and watched it. I liked the film very much but there is something I have to tell about the final scene: Is the landrover still there?
What a great film, just finished on tv. Amused myself by spotting little oddities, ie Series 1 Landrover in background in final scene as he is driven away from bar! Carlsberg really had a result with that film - how much would they have to pay nowadays for such good product placement! Pete
I read recently that the only unadulterated Austin ambulances in the film are seen in the background at night as the convoy leaves without the main characters. The main vehicle is a 4wd hybrid, or rather a whole batch of them because of the terrain and filming difficulties. Great film, though (did WW2 desert bloomers really get that short?).
Mind you, that Landy did'nt stand out as much as the bright red Landy Fire engine right at the end of 633sqdn
What a great film, just finished on tv. Amused myself by spotting little oddities, ie Series 1 Landrover in background in final scene as he is driven away from bar! Carlsberg really had a result with that film - how much would they have to pay nowadays for such good product placement! Pete Pete, Not seen it for a long time but it is a real classic. Regards Tom
I read recently that the only unadulterated Austin ambulances in the film are seen in the background at night as the convoy leaves without the main characters. The main vehicle is a 4wd hybrid, or rather a whole batch of them because of the terrain and filming difficulties. Great film, though (did WW2 desert bloomers really get that short?). Hi 4/7RDG, your right the main vehicle used was an adulterated version,( FWD) there was never such an animal produced, however did you notice the k2 that arrives at the bottom of the famous hill scene is RWD only, also there is a picture taken by John Mills of the FWD coming up backwards with a tow cable attached, they needed some more powerful help than a starting handle, on the old videos it is possible to freeze frame the k2 when it goes off on its own down the hill and you can clearly see the driver, as John MILLS jumps in, it was a clever bit of work to convert to FWD, the chassis appears original k2 the hand brake position and gear lever appear correct, the transfer box hanging down, plus the front axle I don't recognise, you would think k5 screamer,but there have been other suggestions over the years as to their origins, overall a great film, full of the English fair play, and featuring the best looking vehicle of the whole war regards lofty ( added) a lot of scenes filmed here in Elstree used a rear body with the right hand side cut out and another with the left, these parts were at one time with a collector at Ashford many years ago, he also had a complete ambulance, the bodies were scrapped and in the confusion of trading the people that bought the complete one believe theirs is the one used in the film, I don't think that came home from Libya, PIC 1 you can just see the rope, pic 2 check out the gear lever and hand brake positions, oh and SIR John Mills PIC 3 RAF HENDONS K2Y with war-zone sized red crosses and mickey mouse camouflage, large crosses to be seen, camouflage not to be, now you see me now you don't, who did that ?
Great film well acted and a classic, as for the landy its a mistake if you watch 633 sqdn they appear all over the place.
A great black and white film, which was the only thing on TV worth watching the first evening that we had a colour TV!
Classic war film I have a copy here somewhere I got with the paper also got a load more that along with and extra copy I sent to Carl over at ww2f........which is very blue for some reason
Just listened again to the voiceover intro to Ice cold in Alex. Harry Andrews unless I am mistaken. It includes the statement '2 million men, 2 million stories, this one happens to be true'. Is there any evidence that such an episode actually occurred? Sorry if this has been asked before. Mike
The author of the novel, Christopher Landon, served as a doctor with the 51st Field Ambulance in North Africa during WWII. The film (as you quoted) claims it to be a true story, while Landon himself apparently mentioned in his book that it was based on a true story . . . that word "based" implies that much of it is embellished, fabricated and glamorised. There were a spate of British and American films made in the 50s, 60s and 70s claiming to be true stories that were entirely fiction, since it was felt this would draw in larger audiences. Although the film is one of my favourites, I doubt it is much more than a good adventure yarn.
Just noticed this - I assume in those days budgets were so tight that as much as possible the filming was in the same place. It was probably a bit more basic than that...it was filmed in 1958 - 18 months or so after SUEZ! Do you think a British film company would have been welcome in Nasser's Egypt???
Hi all My Brother really likes this film, But it is just a film a so there are many errors, but thats not whats its about. The main Ambulance in the film would be manufactured before 1941. But is has been rebuilt post 1942. well I could not up load all the pics.but they show enough. regs Rupert
I always thought that John Mills took too much time admiring his Carlsberg when in reality it would have been quickly downed. Apparently in the film he had to do 14 takes for the scene. Carlsberg lager...pilsner would not be available during to war as Denmark was occupied by the Germans and I think that Carlsberg glasses came after the war. I have a set of Tuborg glasses bought in Denmark in 1980 which are signed as "Tuborg beer". Hand cranking in reverse up the sand dune was said not to be practical. Good coverage of the film here...Ice Cold in Alex (1958) - Trivia - IMDb
