In Libya, an American tank commander, along with a handful of Allied soldiers, tries to defend an isolated well with a limited supply of water from a German Afrika Korps battalion during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II.

Humphrey Bogart
as Sgt. Joe Gunn

Bruce Bennett
as Waco Hoyt

J. Carrol Naish
as Giuseppe

Lloyd Bridges
as Fred Clarkson

Rex Ingram
as Sgt. Maj. Tambul

Richard Aherne
as Capt. Jason Halliday

Dan Duryea
as Jimmy Doyle

Carl Harbord
as Marty Williams

Patrick O'Moore
as Osmond 'Ozzie' Bates

Louis Mercier
as Jean Leroux - 'Frenchie'