This week’s pick is the classic 1966 British colonial film Khartoum directed by Basil Dearden and written by Robert Ardrey. Charlton Heston stars as famed British General Charles “Chinese” Gordon who defended the ancient city against Muslim extremists in 1884-85 Africa. The film also stars Sir Laurence Olivier (The Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmed), Ralph Richardson (Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone), Richard Johnson (Col. J.D.H. Stewart), and Nigel Green (General Garnet Wolseley).

Khartoum is a thundering epic made when epics were the norm in Hollywood. After the success of Lawrence of Arabia, the studio system was looking for another fantastic story which would have the same effect as David Lean’s masterpiece had done. The events surrounding the siege of Khartoum are not widely known however, it was an incident which sparked controversy throughout the British Empire in the late nineteenth century, and threatened the stability of a region which is still plagued to this day by internal conflict.

The film opens with sweeping photography and music which helps to set the stage for a grand story of chivalry and adventure. After years of British rule trying to control various warlords and bandits, an Egyptian army which is poorly armed and trained is led by a Col. William Hicks whose army has marched from Egypt in order to pursue rebels under the command of The Mahdi (Olivier), a religious figure who believes himself to be “the expected one of Mohammad”.

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