Why didn't they eat the camel?
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AppleBlossom — 21 years ago(April 03, 2005 10:08 PM)
It appears to have been entirely an emotional gut reaction from Jimmy Stewart's character at the horror of the situation. (The camel was lame and was tied to a post and left there by the bedouins, and it was making a whole lot of noise)
Quite an understandable reaction given the situation. I just wasn't too sure if the dialogue was connected to the action of Stewart's character. Now I know.thanks for answering me.
AB.
If errors have been made..others will be blamed. -
crawfrordboon — 20 years ago(August 16, 2005 02:31 PM)
For all any of us know, the man could well have lugged the dead camel over the sanddune, back the the plane, cut it up, and eaten it. It was the alck of water that was crucial, not the lack of food. There's nothing to suggest the guys DIDN'T eat the camel, its just that equally nothing ever says they did.
"He's a bit of a rough diamond but his heart's in the right place." -
AppleBlossom — 20 years ago(August 22, 2005 07:18 AM)
Thank you for being considerate, but I did receive a response to my question previously. I read your review on this filmand I'm glad we have the same thoughts
Cheers!!!
AB.
If errors have been made..others will be blamed. -
santol321 — 17 years ago(November 18, 2008 06:51 PM)
The flavor of camel is not very nice? Do you truly believe that men who are starving to death are going to concern themselves with how good the food tastes?
I was also bothered by the fact that nobody even suggested eating the camel. That part of the movie was never addressed. Maybe it was addressed, but ended up on the cutting room floor.
Along with being bothered by not eating the camel, I was also wondering why the lame camel was included in that scene in the first place. The scene would have worked just as well without the camel. There must have been a reason to have the camel there and I have a feeling that the reason is unknown because it got edited out of the movie. -
pepperdoggie — 17 years ago(February 24, 2009 01:24 PM)
Not only that, they should have eaten the monkey. I know a little monkey like that wouldn't provide much meat divided how many ways but a wee snack, maybe.
Now some people say it's WRONG to eat monkey with white wine. But perhaps a nice pressed date-camel's blood-cream sauce could have made for a very tasty, succulent monkey dish.
They should have bashed its skull in, then eaten it. Nasty little monkey. -
glentom1 — 20 years ago(April 08, 2005 06:32 PM)
I don't recall that they were short on food, the biggest problem was the lack of water. In other words, they had a very disciplined system for rationing water, and their calculations led them to believe they would die for the lack of water long before for the lack of food. If needed, I am sure they would have eaten the camel, as bad tasting as it might be.
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randysch1 — 20 years ago(April 10, 2005 10:36 PM)
by - glentom1 on Fri Apr 8 2005 18:32:01 I don't recall that they were short on food, the biggest problem was the lack of water. In other words, they had a very disciplined system for rationing water, and their calculations led them to believe they would die for the lack of water long before for the lack of food. If needed, I am sure they would have eaten the camel, as bad tasting as it might be. <<<
It's been a while since I saw the movie, but if I recall correctly, the only food they had was dates. I'm sure the dates helped sustain them somewhat, but I think that adding some good old-fashioned animal protein would have improved their diet considerably. (Plus, I have to wonder if a diet consisting of nothing but dates might have contributed to dehydration, due to certain ahem laxative properties of dates)
You're correct that water was the biggest issue, but they also needed to keep up their strength for the demanding work which was required of them. And strength requires protein. -
navstar7 — 20 years ago(August 05, 2005 02:41 PM)
I totally agree with you, BlondeVicVega. What the hell is with today's studios and all this remake garbage? Flight of the Phoenix - A Christmas Carol(1951) - Miracle on 34th Street - Captains Courageous, just to name a few. These are classics because of the era in which they were made and the original actors. You cannot "improve" them! You can do similar themes, i.e. Blackboard Jungle/To Sir With Love, but you cannot "remake" the ORIGINAL. It's time the writers, producers and directors to get off their lazy, wealthy asses and earn their money by being creative and honest with the movie goers instead of sucking the hind titty of the classics for material. Apologies for the rant but these lazy jerks are really pissing me off.
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glentom1 — 20 years ago(April 16, 2005 07:16 PM)
I just bought the DVD, since I had no success finding it on other than VHS at rental shops. I am going to pay particular attention to the food issue and the camel, as we watch it tonite.
We just saw the remake a few days ago. The biggest problem was the role of the model airplane designer, almost all of the dramatic tension between him and Mr. Towns from the original was missing. Although the remake is a fair movie on its own, without Hardy Kruger in the original role it was a failure as a remake.
UPDATE: I just watched the original again, and they did say that they had an unlimited supply of food (albeit "pressed dates"). Also, they made it clear that they would all die from the lack of water after 12 days, and that the still would not provide enough water to last even another day. So I guess eating the camel (at least according to the movie) would have taken more time than it was worth.
Wonder what the book says about that issue? I have not read it. -
randysch1 — 20 years ago(April 21, 2005 12:13 AM)
by - glentom1 on Sat Apr 16 2005 19:16:44
UPDATE: I just watched the original again, and they did say that they had an unlimited supply of food (albeit "pressed dates"). Also, they made it clear that they would all die from the lack of water after 12 days, and that the still would not provide enough water to last even another day. So I guess eating the camel (at least according to the movie) would have taken more time than it was worth.
Wonder what the book says about that issue? I have not read it. <<<
Thanks for the response. I'm not sure if that solves it or not, but I suppose it'll have to do. -
doliver2 — 20 years ago(May 01, 2005 02:03 PM)
I just finished reading the book. In the book the author said that if they ate the camel, it would increase their thirst. I was wondering the same thingalso the vulturessurely they would taste like chicken! Ready to watch the old film now, if I can find it to rent!
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jameshussen — 20 years ago(June 10, 2005 11:10 PM)
Remember that the body is what, 3/4s water? You would drain and drink the camel's blood, then eat it. If a person has about 5 litres of blood, a camel would have quite a bit more than that. Survival is not for the squeamish.
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detroit442 — 20 years ago(October 14, 2005 12:58 PM)
The body is mostly water, though it's salty water. Read the story of "The Lady Be Good" it's the true story of a B-24 crew that overshot their base and bailed out over the Libian desert. They had no real food and only a few swallows of water, yet they covered an unbelievable distance. You can survive on nothing but water(lots of water) for a very long time, though you do get weaker and malnourished. Borgnine could've survived the longest as Stewart would starve first.