Sanders of the River (1935)

Director:

Zoltan Korda

Writers:

Lajos Biró (adaptation)
Jeffrey Dell (adaptation)

Release Date:

26 June 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

British District Officer in Nigeria in the 1930's rules his area strictly but justly, and struggles...

Plot Keywords:

Africa | Murder | Slavery | Colonialism | Ethnological

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Leslie Banks	...	Commissioner R.G. Sanders
Paul Robeson	...	Bosambo
Nina Mae McKinney	...	Lilongo
Martin Walker	...	J. Ferguson
Robert Cochran	...	Lieutenant Tibbets (as Robert Cochrane)
Richard Grey	...	Captain Hamilton
Tony Wane	...	King Mofolaba
Marqués De Portago	...	Farini
Eric Maturin	...	Smith
Allan Jeayes	...	Father O'Leary
Charles Carson	...	Sir John
Luao	...	Chief of the Wagenia (Congo) tribe
Kilongalonga	...	Chief of the Wagenia (Congo) tribe
Oboja	...	Chief of the Acholi tribe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Members of Acholi Tribe	...	Themselves
Members of Joruba Tribe	...	Themselves
Members of Kroo Tribe	...	Themselves
Members of Mendi Tribe	...	Themselves
Members of Sesi Tribe	...	Themselves
Members of Tefik Tribe	...	Themselves

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Filming Locations:

Africa

Company:

London Film Productions

Trivia:

Some of the wonderful looking shots of African river scenes were in fact filmed on the River Thames at Shepperton.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Although the film is nominally set in Nigeria (as shown on the map in Sanders' office), the aerial wildlife shots seem to have been taken in East Africa (e.g. Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika). Given the presence of Jomo Kenyatta as an extra in the cast, it is likely that the African scenes were shot on the eastern coast of Africa rather than in Nigeria.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Shepperton Babylon (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Song of the Spear

Very British and faintly embarrassing

Impossible to watch through 21st century eyes,"Sanders of the river" belongs to the "Saturday Morning Pictures" school of movies.I saw dozens like it in my local Odeon (Our Dominion Extends Over Nations) as a small boy.Wise white man benevolently ruling over spear waving savages,chattering monkeys,trumpeting elephants,and other denizens of the Dark Continent.Most of the savages had bones through their noses and danced round the cooking pot chanting gibberish.They were badly-made,with unsteady scenery,crackling soundtracks and startling inadvertent jump-cuts.Nobody you ever heard of was in them and we forgot about them as soon as we got out into the daylight. Unfortunately there were some well-known actors in "Sanders of the river" it was well made and very popular in its day.Now it seems slightly hilarious to give it the broadest possible benefit of the doubt. If you go to see it don't take Spike Lee.