Five Graves to Cairo was probably the first American film to deal maturely with World War II, bringing a welcome relief from the masochistic and jingoistic last-stand dramas that cluttered screens in 1942. The film created quite a stir at the time for its remarkable currency; it was begun after the fall of Tobruk and completed three months before Rommel lost the African Campaign. Five Graves is also Wilder's vest-pocket Citizen Kane-the film in which he explores all the possibilities of the medium. Among the most striking touches are the opening appearance of a “dead” tank and a fantastic fight involving a flashlight. Franchot Tone is quite good as the improvising hero, a British corporal left behind during the retreat at Sidi Halfaya, Libya, but the high point is Stroheim's definitive incarnation of Rommel. As NY Times critic Bosley Crowther wrote, “Whenever he appears in this picture, a swaggering bully waving a tasseled fly-swatter, he gives you the creeps . . . Boy, what a nasty Hun!”