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IMDbPro

40,000 Horsemen

  • 1940
  • Approved
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
205
YOUR RATING
Betty Bryant and Grant Taylor in 40,000 Horsemen (1940)
DramaHistoryWar

Three young Australians join the army at the beginning of World War I and are assigned to the Australian Light Horse cavalry, which is serving in Palestine. The three eventually take part in... Read allThree young Australians join the army at the beginning of World War I and are assigned to the Australian Light Horse cavalry, which is serving in Palestine. The three eventually take part in the attack during the Battle of Beersheba, which was the last cavalry charge in modern wa... Read allThree young Australians join the army at the beginning of World War I and are assigned to the Australian Light Horse cavalry, which is serving in Palestine. The three eventually take part in the attack during the Battle of Beersheba, which was the last cavalry charge in modern warfare.

  • Director
    • Charles Chauvel
  • Writers
    • Elsa Chauvel
    • Charles Chauvel
    • E.V. Timms
  • Stars
    • Grant Taylor
    • Betty Bryant
    • Chips Rafferty
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.0/10
    205
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Charles Chauvel
    • Writers
      • Elsa Chauvel
      • Charles Chauvel
      • E.V. Timms
    • Stars
      • Grant Taylor
      • Betty Bryant
      • Chips Rafferty
    • 11User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos10

    40,000 Horsemen (1940)
    40,000 Horsemen (1940)
    Harvey Adams, Kenneth Brampton, and Eric Reiman in 40,000 Horsemen (1940)
    Betty Bryant, Chips Rafferty, and Pat Twohill in 40,000 Horsemen (1940)
    40,000 Horsemen (1940)
    Chips Rafferty, Grant Taylor, Pat Twohill, and Joe Valli in 40,000 Horsemen (1940)
    40,000 Horsemen (1940)
    Betty Bryant and Grant Taylor in 40,000 Horsemen (1940)
    Grant Taylor in 40,000 Horsemen (1940)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Grant Taylor
    Grant Taylor
    • Red Gallagher
    Betty Bryant
    • Juliet Rouget
    Chips Rafferty
    Chips Rafferty
    • Jim
    Pat Twohill
    • Larry
    Harvey Adams
    • Von Hausen
    Eric Reiman
    • Von Schiller
    Joe Valli
    • Scotty
    Albert C. Winn
    • Sheik Abu
    Kenneth Brampton
    • German Officer
    John Fleeting
    • Capt. Gordon
    Harry Abdy
    • Paul Rouget
    Norman Maxwell
    • Ismet
    Pat Penny
    • Capt. Seidi
    Charles Zoli
    • Cafe Proprietor
    Claude Turton
    • Othman
    • (as Claude Turtin)
    Theo Lianos
    • Abdul
    Roy Mannix
    • Light Horse Sergeant
    • (as Sergeant Roy Mannix)
    Edna Emmett
    • Dancing Girl
    • Director
      • Charles Chauvel
    • Writers
      • Elsa Chauvel
      • Charles Chauvel
      • E.V. Timms
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Among those who saw the film on its US release was a young Clint Eastwood. Richard Schickel writes in his 1996 biography of Eastwood: "Treasured among these films and stars [that Clint Eastwood saw while growing up] is one slightly more exotic title, 'Forty Thousand Horsemen'. The story of an Australian cavalry brigade that fought in Palestine in World War I, it starred Chips Rafferty, was made in 1940 and entered the world market a couple of years later. Its dialogue contained a few mild, but in those days shocking, cuss words. Clint remembers going to it with his family and, when the first 'hell' or 'damn' was heard, being aware of respectable citizens leaving the theater. The Eastwoods soon followed, but 'I snuck back later, because I wanted to see the whole movie; it had a lot of action--horses, and lancers and what have you'."
    • Quotes

      Red Gallagher: Come to think of it, what's it all about? What are we fighting for?

      Jim: I suppose it's about the right to stand up on a soap box in the Domain, tell the boss what to do with his job if you don't like it. And the right to start off as a roustabout and finish as prime minister, that's what we're fighting for...

    • Connections
      Featured in Forgotten Cinema: The Golden Age of Australian Motion Pictures (1967)
    • Soundtracks
      Waltzing Matilda
      (uncredited)

      Original music by Christina McPherson (uncredited), revised music by Marie Cowan (uncredited) and lyrics by A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson (uncredited)

    User reviews11

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    The Charge At Beersheba
    40,000 Horseman tells the story of the Australian Light Horse cavalry which operated in the desert in Palestine and probably has to its credit the last successful cavalry charge in battle, though apparently according to other reviewers some who dispute it. I'm perfectly willing to give credit to Australia for this remarkable achievement.

    The story was filmed in 1940 when Australia had already entered World War II and troops were in the Sahara Desert while this movie was made. For propaganda necessity a hateful German had to be made the villain and Harvey Adams as Van Hausen certainly fills the bill there. To be sure Germans were in the desert, but the bulk of the fighting troops were the Aussies old foes from Gallipoli, the Turks. After all Palestine was part of their Ottoman Empire.

    The film was made by Charles Clauvel who's uncle Sir Harry Clauvel was the actual general in charge of the Australian Light Horse. Perhaps the younger Clauvel was undergoing an attack of modesty, but personally I'd have rather seen the story of the uncle and the battles done in a documentary style like The Longest Day.

    However several Australian acquaintances have told me that this film is regularly shown on Australian television on ANZAC day. Though the courage of the Aussies at Gallipoli gave the new continent nation a sense of national identity, this film does show them winning this one.

    It's the final cavalry charge at Beersheba which opened the way for General Allenby to take Jerusalem is the main feature of the film. Even given the superior production facilities in America at the time, no Hollywood film could have staged the battle better. It is one of the most exciting charges I've ever seen done from any country.

    I'm still not sure what the contrived romance between half French half Arab girl Betty Bryant and Aussie cavalryman Grant Taylor was doing here. Most of the time Betty is disguised as a boy. I'm thinking that Charles Clauvel might have seen Katharine Hepburn in Sylvia Scarlett and thought it was cute.

    As one of Taylor's mates is Chips Rafferty who was THE Australian cinema star for three decades. This was the film that got him his first real notice.

    Though the film probably could use a modern remake in the manner of Breaker Morant and Gallipoli without the wartime propaganda and unnecessary love story tossed in, 40,000 Horseman is an exciting piece of cinema detailing the story of one of the great events in Australian history. Maybe we'll get to see it on American television soon.
    helpful•15
    4
    • bkoganbing
    • Jul 25, 2008

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • December 26, 1940 (Australia)
    • Country of origin
      • Australia
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Forty Thousand Horsemen
    • Filming locations
      • Kurnell Sandhills, Kurnell, New South Wales, Australia
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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