A European family in East Africa finds itself caught up in an uprising by local black Africans against their white colonial masters. Based on the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya in the early 1950s.
Acting
Dirk Bogarde's quietly tortured colonial conscience.
Direction
Hurst balances soap and politics with surprising grace.
Director
Brian Desmond Hurst
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot during the actual Emergency, the Kenyan government initially banned it for fear of inciting further violence. The ban was lifted after cuts.
Virginia McKenna later became a wildlife conservation icon; her presence here as a conflicted colonial daughter adds fascinating retrospective layers.
GB
