Khartoum

Khartoum (1966) is Basil Dearden's historical war epic, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Shot in widescreen Cinerama, it stages a clash of two strong-willed men on the banks of the Nile: a British general and a Sudanese prophet.

Charlton Heston plays Charles Gordon, the officer London sends to pull Egyptian garrisons out of a Sudan in open revolt. Rather than withdraw, Gordon digs in and tries to shield the people of a besieged city. Facing him is the Mahdi, who has declared himself a divine messenger and is massing his followers at the walls — Laurence Olivier, nearly unrecognizable in the part. Their two face-to-face meetings were invented for the screen, yet they carry the film: less a battle of armies than an argument between two faiths.

The story recreates the long siege of the winter of 1884–85. Robert Ardrey's screenplay landed an Oscar nomination, and the desert vistas and cavalry charges were filmed on location in Egypt. If you love the old roadshow epics in the vein of Lawrence of Arabia, this delivers a scale Hollywood rarely attempts anymore. Stream Khartoum (1966) online on iFILM.