Khartoum (1966)

Film: Khartoum - 1966 Genre:War/Drama ‧ 2h:14m Directed by: Basil Dearden. Narrated by: Leo Genn Written by: Robert Ardrey Music composed by: Frank Cordell. Starring: Charlton Heston; ‎Laurence Olivier,Ralph Richardson,Richard Johnson, Peter Arne,Jonny Sekka,Alexander Knox. Overview: In 1883, in the Sudan, a force of 10,000 poorly trained Egyptian troops is lured into the Sudanese desert, Commanding the force is former Bombay Army soldier Colonel William "Billy" Hicks (Edward Underdown) now a private individual, in the pay of the Egyptian government. . There he is defeated by native tribesmen led by Muhammad Ahmed (Laurence Olivier), a Nubian religious leader of the Samaniyya order in Sudan who had declared himself Mahdi. British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (Ralph Richardson), does not wish to send any military forces to Khartoum but is under great pressure, mostly from the British press, to "avenge" the death of Hicks, a hero of previous colonial conflicts. He could send colonial military hero Major General Charles George Gordon (Charlton Heston) who has strong ties to Sudan, having tried to break the slave trade there, but Gladstone distrusts him. Gordon has a reputation for strong and eccentric religious beliefs, and following his own judgement regardless of his orders.