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Overview
User Rating:
Directors:
Writer:
Robert Ardrey (written by)
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
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Khartoum: blackface Olivier scrapes the bottom of some macabre barrels
(From The Guardian - Film News. 12 November 2009, 12:54 AM, PST)
Bradford International Film Festival Diary Day 4: "Becket" And "Khartoum"
(From CinemaRetro. 30 March 2009, 1:21 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
An epic entertainment! more (41 total)
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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
134 min | USA:128 min
Country:
Language:
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:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
This film was shot in Ultra Panavision and it was originally exhibited in Cinerama venues. The image was later reduced and cropped for exhibition in 70mm and 35mm release prints. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Gordon has a friend in Khartoum executed for stealing grain. The man is killed by firing squad. In spite of being shot by a number of riflemen, his white clothing show absolutely no sign of injury. more
Quotes:
Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon:
Colonel, what are the chances of my sacking you as my aide?
Col. J.D.H. Stewart:
If any exist General, please be assured that I'd be the first to point them out to you.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#22.96)" (2006) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (41 total)
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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...