Between the two worlds wars, there was a fierce, ongoing military battle being waged in the North African desert between Libyan Bedouins and Italian forces. This movie depicts the latter days of these events in the life of Omar Mukhtar (Quinn), a teacher who led the Libyan resistance until about 1931. The conflict, which spanned some 20 years sought to eject the Italians from native Bedouin lands. The Italians wanted the land simply for territorial conquest. The movie begins in 1929 with Mussolini (Rod Steiger) expressing his frustration at continually wasting lira on supporting infantry. He despatches the notoriously cruel Gen. Rodolfo Graziani (Reed) to eliminate the rebels, and he proceeds to do so. There are some extremely graphic scenes of hangings, massacres of women and children, conditions in the concentration camps, and decimation (literally, the practice of killing every tenth person).
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The review of this Movie prepared by ldpaulson