Lion of the Desert is a 1981 Libyan-US historical drama war film. It features Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, Rod Steiger, Irene Papas, Raf Vallone, John Gielgud, and Andrew Keir. In 1929, Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini appoints General Rodolfo Graziani as colonial governor to Italian Libya with orders to stamp-out all resistance from Libyan nationalists led by rebel guerrilla leader Omar Mukhtar.