Khartoum

I'm a sucker for big sweeping historical epics, so it came as no real surprise to me that I enjoyed Khartoum immensely. Based on the Seige of Khartoum in 1880, Khartoum follows in the footsteps of Zulu as a tale of British colonial bravery in the face of endless hordes of enemy warriors. Charlton Heston stars as General 'Chinese' Gordon, the larger-than-life historical hero who pledges to defend the Sudanese city of Khartoum from the extremist armies of the Mahdi (Laurence Olivier), a fanatical conqueror claiming to be an Islamic messiah-like figure. The film details how Gordon came to face off against the Mahdist army, the strategies he used to prolong the seige, and his heroic stand in the face of probable defeat.

It's a marvelous adventure, and the film is suitably realistic about the events it's based on. Heston is perfectly cast as rogue general and all-round legend 'Chinese' Gordon, he has the natural presence to pull off such a big character without having to try too hard. Olivier gives a balanced portrayal of his historical personage too, suitably believable and low-key as the infamous religious nutter - he doesn't go over the top, and both Heston and himself have more than enough talent between them to anchor an epic like this quite splendidly. Khartoum has a cracking good pace, great location shooting, grand battles and plenty of interesting historical details. Well worth checking out.

TRIVIA: Burt Lancaster turned down the role of General Gordon.

DIRECTOR: Basil Dearden
WRITER/SOURCE: Robert Ardrey, based on real historical events.
KEY ACTORS: Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Richard Johnson, Nigel Green, Ralph Richardson, Peter Arne, Alexander Knox

RELATED TEXTS:
- The Polish novel In Desert and Wilderness by Henry Sienkiewicz, a 1912 teen novel set around the same historical events.
- The novel The Four Feathers concerns the further military clashes between the British and the Mahdi in late 19th century Sudan. It has been filmed five times... twice as a silent film, again in 1939 (The Four Feathers - this is probably the most famous and successful version, and stars Ralph Richardson and John Clements), again for TV in 1977 (The Four Feathers starring Beau Bridges) and most recently in 2002 (The Four Feathers starring Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson).
- As mentioned earler, there is some thematic similarity between Khartoum and Zulu.

AWARDS:
Nominated for Best Original Screenplay Academy Award.
Nominated for Best Actor (Ralph Richardson) and Best Art Direction BAFTAs.