| Tripoli | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Film poster | |
| Directed by | Will Price |
| Screenplay by | Winston Miller |
| Story by | Will Price Winston Miller |
| Produced by | William H. Pine William C. Thomas |
| Starring | John Payne Maureen O'Hara Howard Da Silva Phillip Reed Grant Withers Lowell Gilmore Connie Gilchrist |
| Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
| Edited by | Howard A. Smith |
| Music by | Lucien Cailliet |
Production company | Pine-Thomas Productions |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | |
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.6 million[3] |
Tripoli is a 1950 Americanadventure film directed by Will Price, written byWinston Miller and starringJohn Payne,Maureen O'Hara,Howard Da Silva,Phillip Reed andGrant Withers. The film is a fictionalized account of the April 1805Battle of Derna pitting the city ofDerna, in modern-dayLibya, againstTripoli, one of the fourBarbary states inNorth Africa.
The film was released on November 9, 1950 byParamount Pictures[4] and rereleased by Citation Films asThe First Marines.
In 1805, theUSSEssex is part of a blockade of the port ofTripoli by a smallUnited States Navy Mediterranean squadron targetingpirates menacing American shipping. American diplomatic consulWilliam Eaton boards to recruit a small commando squad for a secret mission. Lt.Presley O'Bannon of theU.S. Marine Corps and Lt. John Trippe volunteer to raise a force to seizeDerna, a strategic coastal town to the east. Hamet Karamanly, the exiled formerpasha of Derna, supplies men in exchange for being restored to his throne, which was usurped by his brother. Countess Sheila D’Areneau stays with the pasha and everyone presumes that she is his mistress, while she persuades him to marry her. O'Bannon recruits a native force of mercenaries, including Greeks, Turks and Arabs to accompany his Marines and some American soldiers and sailors. O'Bannon and Countess D’Arneau meet and are attracted to each other, but both refuse to admit it to themselves.
D’Arneau convinces Hamet that the Americans plan to hand him to his brother, but O’Bannon convinces him to change his mind. D’Arneau defies O’Bannon and accompanies the expedition fromAlexandria, Egypt, across theNorth African deserts, but he forces her to travel with the camp followers. After a waterhole is poisoned, the expedition must cross a dune sea to reach the next waterhole ahead of the poisoners. O’Bannon kisses the countess and the force has to endure a sandstorm. Hamet's brother offers him a deal: half the kingdom in return for expelling the Americans. They reach the coast 12 days late and the American navy squadron under CommodoreSamuel Barron is not yet there. There is almost a mutiny before the ships arrives. Hamet tells his brother about the plan of attack on Derna. When the countess learns of this, she rides to warn O’Bannon. He leads asurprise attack on the city and captures it. Lt. O’Bannon and the countess become a couple.
Tripoli is one of several contemporary films about theBarbary War; Universal had releasedSlave Girl (1947) and Columbia had releasedBarbary Pirate (1949). Payne and O'Hara had appeared together inTo the Shores of Tripoli (1942).
The film was originally titledThe Barbarians and was a story by Will Price and Winston Miller. Price, a former Marine, was starMaureen O'Hara's husband.Pine-Thomas Productions bought the story in 1949.[5] It was to have starredDennis O'Keefe, who had recently appeared inThe Eagle and the Hawk for Pine-Thomas, asPresley O'Bannon, but Payne replaced him.[6]
Filming took place over the course of 33 days.[7]
In a contemporary review forThe New York Times, criticBosley Crowther wrote: "William H. Pine and William C. Thomas, Paramount's bustling 'Dollar Bills,' can obviously take American history in their fanciful, free-wheeling stride. Such a little thing as adherence to historical fact or atmosphere doesn't even begin to restrain them in their rustling up an entertainment film. In 'Tripoli,' a lush adventure drama, ... they have played hob with the War of the Barbary Pirates, but they have brought off a rousing, popular show."[1]
Critic John L. Scott of theLos Angeles Times wrote: "'Tripoli' is a satisfactory derring-do motion picture, although preliminaries leading up to the shooting prove a bit irksome to dyed-in-the-wool action fans."[2]
The film earned $1.6 million in North America.[3]