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IMDb > Khartoum (1966)
Khartoum
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Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   1,901 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 5% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Writer:
Robert Ardrey (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Khartoum on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 June 1966 (USA) more
Tagline:
They say the Nile still runs red from the Battle of Khartoum! more
Plot:
After an Egyptian army, commanded by British officers, is destroyed in a battle in the Sudan in the 1880's... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Bradford International Film Festival Diary Day 4: "Becket" And "Khartoum"
 (From CinemaRetro. 30 March 2009, 1:21 PM, PDT)

Charlton Heston Dies at 84
 (From IMDb News. 6 April 2008)

User Comments:
An epic entertainment! more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Charlton Heston ... Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon

Laurence Olivier ... The Mahdi
Richard Johnson ... Col. J.D.H. Stewart
Ralph Richardson ... William Gladstone
Alexander Knox ... Sir Evelyn Baring
Johnny Sekka ... Khaleel
Michael Hordern ... Lord Granville
Zia Mohyeddin ... Zobeir Pasha
Marne Maitland ... Sheikh Osman
Nigel Green ... Gen. Wolseley
Hugh Williams ... Lord Hartington
Ralph Michael ... Sir Charles Dilke
Douglas Wilmer ... Khalifa Abdullah
Edward Underdown ... Col. William Hicks
Peter Arne ... Maj. Kitchener
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
134 min | USA:128 min
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #21216) | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:U (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating)
Filming Locations:
Al Minyal, Egypt more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Average Shot Length = ~5.9 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~6.2 seconds. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: Although Gordon and The Mahdi communicated by courier throughout the siege, they never actually met face-to-face. more
Quotes:
William Gladstone: I don't trust any man who consults God before he consults me. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Laurence Olivier: A Life (1982) (TV) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
37 out of 42 people found the following comment useful:-
An epic entertainment!, 23 July 2000
9/10

Heston essays one of his best roles as Charles "Chinese" Gordon, the patriot who thrives on challenge... Gordon becomes a national hero for his exploits in China and his ill-fated defense of Khartoum...

Gordon is a Christian with the Bible constantly under his arm... A national hero who abolished slavery in China... An honest man revered by the British, as well as by the foreigners... A martyr-warrior who ever truly loves the Sudan and cannot, under 'his' God, leave it to the misery and the sickness of which he once cured it...

Gladstone ((Ralph Richardson) decides not to send troops to the trouble area... Instead he will send General Gordon... Gladstone realizes if Gordon is sent to Khartoum and fails to prevent a massacre, it is he who will be blamed; not the Briish government... For heroes are supposed to perform miracles...

En route to Khartoum, Gordon discovers that most of Britain's allies and friends of his former exploits now support the mystic Mahdi... But when Gordon with Col. Stewart (Richard Johnson) finally reach Khartoum, the people give him a warm welcome... They feel their problems must soon be over now that Gordon Pasha has arrived...

Things, however, do not go as planned... Khartoum runs out of food... The Mahdi's men infiltrate the city... And Gordon seek a plan...

Lawrence Olivier is superb as the fanatical Arab leader, Muhammed Ahmed Al Mahdi, the Expected-One... His softly glowing black eyes never blink... His measured voice spreads holy terrors: "I have been instructed by the Lord Mohammed, Peace be upon Him, to worship in the Khartoum mosque. Therefore I must take Khartoum by the sword."

With outstanding color photography, exquisite sets and costumes, "Khartoum" has great moments:

- The bloody and brutal massacre of an entire army in a burning desert...

- The Gordon/Mahdi meeting... The only non-historic element of the film which, in fact, never took place - contributes enormously to the dramatic effect of the motion picture.

- The raid on the Mahdi's own supplies...

- The exodus of all foreigners and Europeans out of the city...

With an Oscar-Nominated script mounted on a grand scale, "Khartoum" is an epic entertainment, a fine and powerful motion picture...

The exploits, the single-handed capacity Gordon Pasha displayed again and again to control large groups of people quite unarmed and alone, is almost magical; quite scary, in fact...

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Khartoum (1966)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Did anyone else laugh at Laurence Olivier's accent? de_niro_2001
Should have been called 'Gordon of Khartoum' .... HighClassHaddock
Glorification for someone who does not deserve it. Lacoby
What did the Mehdi call Gordon? zanbuddha
source georgioskarpouzas
Any extras die during filming? RABerg66
more

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