Lion of the Desert (1980)

In Fascist Italy pre-World War II, the cruel General Rodolfo Graziani is directly assigned by Benito Mussolini to fight in the colonial war in Libya to vanquish the Arab nation. However, ... See full summary »

Director:

Moustapha Akkad

Writers:

David Butler (additional material), H.A.L. Craig

Stars:

Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, Rod Steiger

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Quinn	...	Omar Mukhtar
Oliver Reed	...	Gen. Rodolfo Graziani
Irene Papas	...	Mabrouka
Raf Vallone	...	Colonel Diodiece
Rod Steiger	...	Benito Mussolini
John Gielgud	...	Sharif El Gariani
Andrew Keir	...	Salem
Gastone Moschin	...	Major Tomelli
Stefano Patrizi	...	Lt. Sandrini
Adolfo Lastretti	...	Colonel Sarsani
Sky du Mont	...	Prince Amadeo (as Sky Dumont)
Takis Emmanuel	...	Bu-Matari
Rodolfo Bigotti	...	Ismail
Robert Brown	...	Al Fadeel
Eleonora Stathopoulou	...	Ali's Mother

Storyline

In Fascist Italy pre-World War II, the cruel General Rodolfo Graziani is directly assigned by Benito Mussolini to fight in the colonial war in Libya to vanquish the Arab nation. However, his troops are frequently defeated by the national leader Omar Mukhtar and his army of Bedouins. But the Butcher of Ethiopia and Libya uses a dirty war against the natives, slaughtering women, children, and aged people, to subdue Mukhtar.

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Plot Keywords:

arab | muslim | bedouin | rebel | desert | 

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Taglines:

A giant of a man against a general seeking glory...a spectacular adventure of arch enemies in battle.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Libya USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 May 1981 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Omar Mukhtar: Lion of the Desert

Filming Locations:

Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Falcon International Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

173 min 156 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Black and White (archive footage) Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie's title was the nickname of the protagonist and central character Omar Muktar (Anthony Quinn).

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Goofs

During the narrated introduction immediately following the opening credits, the Earth is depicted revolving backwards - west-to-east instead of east-to-west.

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Quotes

Omar Mukhtar: From God we come, and unto God we shall return.

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Alternate Versions

The U.S.A. Home Video VHS release in the '80s runs 160 minutes. Footage has been added in the Director's Cut released on Anchor Bay Video. This version, released in 1998, runs 206 minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in El crack (1981)

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Soundtracks

Marcia Reale
(uncredited)
Music by Giuseppe Gabetti

User Reviews

One man lead resistance against the imperialist designs of the Italian dictator.

7.1 is a ridiculous rating. This movies deserves much higher and I can assure those who have not seen it that they will agree with me once they have seen it.

Almost all aspects of movie making are amazingly rendered. It will easily compare with any movie about war and politics. The savagery, otherwise recorded only in books, is depicted marvelously. I want to praise a couple of actors but it would not be correct to leave anyone out so I am just saying that they were all tailor made for their roles. There is some real reel footage in the movie and that drives home the points raised in this movie.

On a tangent – it is interesting that the so called civilized countries continuously plumbed new depths of uncivilized actions only for land and riches…. It is an amazing display of imperialistic debauchery.