"In June, 1942, a small detachment of American tanks with American crews, joined the British Eighth Army in North Africa to get experience in desert warfare under actual battle conditions...History has proved that they learned their lesson well --." This title card announces the recent history behind the 1943 Columbia Pictures release Sahara, an intelligent and intense action film, one of the first made by Humphrey Bogart following the enormous success of Casablanca (1942).

The all-male cast of Sahara was widely praised by the critics. J. Carrol Naish was nominated for an Oscar® for his role as the Italian prisoner; his Axis character is treated sympathetically, unusual for a wartime film. Rex Ingram is memorable as the Sudanese officer; the versatile Ingram had also appeared in the Korda production The Thief of Bagdad (1940), as the Genie. Sahara also provided one of Bruce Bennett's best roles. Bennett would appear again with Bogart in Dark Passage (1947) and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). Notable screen villain Dan Duryea was handed a rare good guy role. As quoted in Hollywood Players: The Forties, Duryea later said "Sahara is a picture which practically nobody remembers my being in; one of the few pictures I didn't play a heel and maybe for that reason."