''East of Sudan'' is a 1964 British adventure film directed by

Nathan Juran Naftuli Hertz "Nathan" Juran (September 1, 1907 – October 23, 2002) was a Romanian film art director, and later film and television director. As an art director, he won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1942 for ''How Green Was My Valley'', ...

and featuring

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...

, Sylvia Syms and Derek Fowlds. The storyline is spliced with various sections of African wildlife. Much of this stock footage makes no sense as it shows species and cultural activities linked to central Africa rather than the Sudan. Tribal sections also have natives speaking Swahili rather than any native Sudanese language.

Plot

In late 1884, during the height of the Mahdist insurrection in the Sudan, Mahdist forces led by several hundred

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...

es armed with broad curved swords, attack Barash, a British outpost, located 200 miles (320 km) upriver from

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

. Three soldiers and a woman with a young child escape to the river and steal a small riverboat. One soldier, Major Harris, is shot as they leave and dies soon after. They debate throwing him overboard. The boat has bullet holes under the water line and they have to bail water to stay afloat. They draw ashore to bury the major. The survivors introduce themselves: Private Richard Baker, a hardened British soldier; Murchison, a young officer; Asua, the daughter of the local

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

; and Asua's British governess, Margaret Woodville. The latter hope to reach Khartoum. Private Baker explains why they should not. They leave the boat and Baker creates a shelter for the coming storm. Margaret refuses to share it and the men need to shelter under the sail of the boat. Over the course of the journey, the group face danger on the Nile and its banks. Facing off against nature, Arab slavers and a beleaguered African tribe the slavers prey on, they are saved by King Gondoko's son Kimrasi, who then joins them as they head for Khartoum. Soldiers Murchison and Baker frequently clash, while Baker and Margaret fall in love. Once past Khartoum, they find a battle between the Mahdists and the British in progress, and the men join the fight. Murchison's knowledge of the nearby Mahdist held fort enables them to blow up the arsenal and save the day. Murchison is commended for bravery by a British major, whereas Baker is arrested for desertion, but Margaret confirms her love for him.

Cast

as Private Richard Baker * Sylvia Syms as Miss Margaret Woodville * Derek Fowlds as Murchison *

Jenny Agutter Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in '' East of Sudan'', ''Star!'', and two adaptations of '' The Railway Children''—the BBC's 1968 television seria ...

as Asua *

Johnny Sekka Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

as Kimrasi * Joseph Layode as Gondoku the tribal chief *

Derek Blomfield Derek Blomfield (31 August 1920 – 23 July 1964) was a British actor who appeared in a number of stage, film and television productions between 1935 and his death in 1964. Career He trained at LAMDA and made his first stage appearance a ...

as Second Major

Production

Producer Charles Schneer made it after a series of fantasies with Ray Harryhausen. This and ''

Siege of the Saxons ''Siege of the Saxons'' is a 1963 British adventure film directed by Nathan H. Juran and released by Columbia Pictures. Starring Janette Scott and Ronald Lewis, the film is set in the time of King Arthur, but, as with many Arthurian themed fil ...

'' were made over 15 days using stock footage. "Columbia had a lot of unused footage in their library", said the producer. "If 10 percent or less of a film made in the United Kingdom was stock footage, you received a government subsidy. I decided that would be a good commercial opportunity, so I made both pictures that way. I took the big action sequences out of Columbia's library." The action sequences of ''East of Sudan'' used stock footage from ''

Beyond Mombassa ''Beyond Mombasa'' is a 1956 British/American Technicolor adventure film starring Cornel Wilde and Donna Reed. It was directed by George Marshall, set in Kenya and filmed there and at a London studio. Plot Matt Campbell (Cornel Wilde) arrives ...

'', ''

Odongo ''Odongo'' or ''Odongo Adventure on the African Frontier'' is a 1956 British Warwick Films CinemaScope African adventure drama film directed by John Gilling and starring Rhonda Fleming, Macdonald Carey and Juma. The screenplay concerns a white ...

'' and '' Safari'' (all 1956), and ''

The Four Feathers ''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in th ...

'' (1939). Anthony Quayle and Sylvia Syms were signed in February 1964. It was Quayle's first film since ''

Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–191 ...

'', and the film debut of Jenny Agutter, then aged eleven.

Reception

The film was released in the US on a double bill with '' First Men in the Moon'' (1964), also directed by Juran. The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' called it "shamelessly unoriginal hokum with Anthony Quayle as a poor man's Stewart Granger and Sylvia Syms as a ditto Deborah Kerr, some laboured tongue-in-cheek humour and an inordinate amount of stockpile animal footage. Nathan Juran could direct this sort of thing blindfolded and for once would appear to have done so."

References

External links

*
''East of Sudan''
at BFI
''East of Sudan''
at Colonial Film
''East of Sudan''
at Letterbox DVD * {{Nathan Juran 1964 films 1960s adventure drama films 1960s historical adventure films British adventure drama films British historical adventure films British Empire war films 1960s English-language films Films set in 1884 Films set in Sudan Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Nathan Juran Films scored by Laurie Johnson 1964 drama films Films produced by Charles H. Schneer Films about the Mahdist War 1960s British films