Khartoum
1966
The Arab leader Mahdi is involved in a battle of wits and swords with the British General "Chinese" Gordon which leads to the epic siege of Khartoum. Academy Award Nominations: Best (Original) Story and Screenplay. Read more
| Starring | Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Richard Johnson |
|---|---|
| Director | Basil Dearden |
| Genres | Drama |
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Khartoum
The Arab leader Mahdi is involved in a battle of wits and swords with the British General "Chinese" Gordon which leads to the epic siege of Khartoum. Academy Award Nominations: Best (Original) Story and Screenplay.
| Starring | Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Richard Johnson, Nigel Green, Michael Hordern |
|---|---|
| Director | Basil Dearden |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 3 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | French, German, Italian, Spanish |
| Hearing-impaired | English, German |
| Subtitles | DVD: Danish, Dutch, French, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish |
| Released | DVD: 31 Mar 2003 Production year: 1966 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Charlton Heston stars in this big-budget epic about General Gordon's last stand, when Sudanese warriors, led by the Mahdi, gave the British Empire a serious jolt. Heston's portrayal of Gordon is finely studied, suggesting a complexity that the script never quite comes to terms with. His performance contrasts with that of Laurence Olivier, whose Mahdi is all eye-rolling, lip-quivering fanaticism, like a refugee from a Carry On film. Intended as a rival to Lawrence of Arabia, this boasts a fine supporting cast, including Michael Hordern and Ralph Richardson, and is often spectacular to watch, but Basil Dearden's direction is on the stodgy side.
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A massive all-star cast and a huge budget help to make the more vacuous moments of this epic comparatively painless. It... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Good Historical drama
Khartoum is a well made fim that most people with an interest in history will enjoy. Even with Charlton Heston as a British 'hero' and Laurence Olivier as the 'mad Mardi' the scale of the production coupled with an excellent supporting cast overides any casting mistakes.
Well worth watching. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Heston is convincing as an englishman
perhaps because it ends in a downbeat way with the death of Gordon this film never attained the cult status of Lawrence of Arabia, as Gordon essentially fails. However the location and action scenes are stunning and classic big cinema with star studded cast :Alec Guiness as the Mahdi is masterful - the whole story of an army of devout and vengeful islamists getting the upper hand over the british and their egyptian allies is very topical indeed. The Mahdi is portrayed as an intelligent charismatic leader and the one to one negotiations between Heston and Guiness are thrillingly acted and full of suspense. the protrayal of Gladstone and his cabinet is amusing and convincing too. If you like high drama, beatuiful scenery and high budget historical settings do not miss this one
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News and features
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Charlton Heston 1924-2008
- 08 Apr 2008
There was nothing small about Charlton Heston. He was a big, lusty man, with a scowl that might have been chiselled out of granite, a famously noble brow, and the kind of sculpted upper torso he was happy to show off well into middle age. It was a physique built for Cinema-Scope. With the movies' fighting television for audiences in the 1950s, Heston was the man of the hour. Cecil B De Mille cast him as the circus master in The Greatest Show On Earth (Best Picture winner in 1952), then as... Read more
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