Trailer
Plot summary
Dale Gordon's father, R. J. Gordon, dies in a practice run ahead of the Trans-African Auto Race. Dale wants to keep his dream alive and to win the prize money, so she plans to drive his new car in the race. The race crosses the Sahara and is open only to men. With help from her father's friends, she disguises herself as a man and takes his place. She is an excellent driver, and soon after the start she throws off her hat and mustache.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Sahara (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Sahara was supposedly inspired by Mark Thatcher, the son of then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who became lost in North Africa in 1982 during an auto rally.
- At the 5th Golden Raspberry Awards, Brooke Shields won Worst Supporting Actor as "Brooke Shields (with a mustache)", making her the first and only actress to take that award.
- Finding the male lead took over a year, with Brooke Shields's mother Teri Shields considering Ted McGinley, who could not manage the accent, and John F. Kennedy Jr., whom she feared would swamp the film with press attention.
- Vincent Spano turned down the male lead in Sahara, saying he had already played a character called The Sheik in Baby It's You and did not want to stand in the desert waiting for Brooke Shields to fix her eyelashes.
- There were reportedly eight rewrites at the behest of Brooke Shields's mother, and two directors quit before filming on Sahara started.
- Brooke Shields was thrown from a car she was driving during filming in Israel, landing on her back and bruising her ribs, and said the incident was the closest she had ever come to death.
