English General Charles George Gordon is appointed military governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by the Prime Minister. Ordered to evacuate Egyptians from the Sudan, Gordon stays on to protect the people of Khartoum, who are under threat of being conquered by a Muslim army.
Acting
Olivier's Mahdi: terrifying dignity in brownface.
Cinematography
Actual Sudan locations—Cinerama doesn't fake grandeur.
Direction
Two directors, one surprisingly cohesive vision.
Director
Basil Dearden
Charlton Heston
Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon
Laurence Olivier
Mahdi
Richard Johnson
Colonel 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
General Wolseley
Hugh Williams
Lord Hartington
Ralph Michael
Sir Charles Dilke
Douglas Wilmer
Khalifa Abdullah
Edward Underdown
Colonel William Hicks
Peter Arne
Major Kitchener/Tewfik Pasha; Khedive of Egypt
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released as colonialism was collapsing globally, this was Britain's last-gasp attempt to romanticize its imperial 'civilizing mission'—awkward timing, lads.
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