The Rat Patrol “The Moment of Truce Raid” #1.10 (1966) (TV)

Solid entertainment,  24 July 2021

Troy and Company find themselves seeking shelter in the middle of the desert as an army of angry Arabs attack.  But they’re not alone.  Deitrich and Company are held-up in the same place.  Troy and Deitrich form an uneasy alliance against a company enemy.  But will it hold?

The Moment of Truce Raid is as good an episode as I’ve seen so far.  The script is especially strong with plenty of tension - both from within and without.  This episode, however, would have definitely benefited from another 30 minutes to tell the story.  The half-hour format does this one no favors.  The acting is as good as I’ve seen in the series.  Christopher George and Eric Braeden do a fantastic job of showing distrust mixed with admiration.  And I especially enjoyed the scene where Hitchcock teaches a German soldier how to blow bubbles.  It’s a very humanizing moment in the midst of war.

One of the oddest things about the episode is the presence of Marc Lawrence.  How  does an actor from the Bronx who normally played a heavy in everything from Charlie Chan in the Wax Museum to Diamonds Are Forever find himself playing an Arab named Abu Hassan working for the Nazis in the middle of the North African desert?  What amazing casting!

7/10