Although full of historical inaccuracies this remains nonetheless a splendid depiction of what must surely be considered a blot(one of many) on British colonial history.
It is competently directed by Basil Dearden, boasts a literate script by anthropologist Robert Ardrey and a score by Frank Cordell with a suitably Elgarian main theme whilst the action scenes are extremely well-handled .
The two major protagonists General Charles Gordon and Muhammed el Mahdi are played by Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier. Their casting raised a few eyebrows at the time and a blacked-up Olivier as the Mahdi is even more controversial now in this era of political correctness and 'inclusiveness'.
None of us has the least idea of what the Mahdi was like so he is open to interpretation. Olivier's portrayal is a masterly combination of fanaticism, cunning and pragmatism whilst utilising the bass notes he had acquired for the role of Othello.
Heston is a marvellous presence and conveys well Gordon's 'mysticism', his English accent is pretty good and he more than holds his own in his scenes with Olivier and the splendid Ralph Richardson as Gladstone. Richard Johnson is suitably stiff-backed as Colonel Stewart and there is an immensely strong supporting cast of British thespians the like of which it would be impossible to assemble now. Peter Arne doubles up as the Khedive and Kitchener. Perhaps they assumed that nobody would notice which alas is probably true!
Martin Scorcese freely admits that despite its weaknesses, this film remains one of his 'guilty pleasures'. He is not alone in that I'm sure.
It is competently directed by Basil Dearden, boasts a literate script by anthropologist Robert Ardrey and a score by Frank Cordell with a suitably Elgarian main theme whilst the action scenes are extremely well-handled .
The two major protagonists General Charles Gordon and Muhammed el Mahdi are played by Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier. Their casting raised a few eyebrows at the time and a blacked-up Olivier as the Mahdi is even more controversial now in this era of political correctness and 'inclusiveness'.
None of us has the least idea of what the Mahdi was like so he is open to interpretation. Olivier's portrayal is a masterly combination of fanaticism, cunning and pragmatism whilst utilising the bass notes he had acquired for the role of Othello.
Heston is a marvellous presence and conveys well Gordon's 'mysticism', his English accent is pretty good and he more than holds his own in his scenes with Olivier and the splendid Ralph Richardson as Gladstone. Richard Johnson is suitably stiff-backed as Colonel Stewart and there is an immensely strong supporting cast of British thespians the like of which it would be impossible to assemble now. Peter Arne doubles up as the Khedive and Kitchener. Perhaps they assumed that nobody would notice which alas is probably true!
Martin Scorcese freely admits that despite its weaknesses, this film remains one of his 'guilty pleasures'. He is not alone in that I'm sure.