Word: mahdy
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KHARTOUM, where the White and Blue Niles meet, is the site of one of history's classic confrontations-between the Christian mystic, General "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston) and his fanatic Moslem opponent, the Mahdi (Laurence Olivier...
KHARTOUM. Charlton Heston pulls on still another heroic hat as British General Charles ("Chinese") Gordon, with Laurence Olivier as the Moslem, Mahdi, in a Cinerama version of the bitter 317-day siege of Khartoum...
KHARTOUM. Cinerama recaptures the spectacular drama of the 1884 siege of Khartoum, where British General Charles Gordon (Charlton Heston) managed to withstand the Moslem assaults led by the Mahdi (Laurence Olivier) for 317 days before dying in one of history's more fascinating lost causes...
...moments of fierce introspection. At times, though, his crisp British officer's manner lapses into a fair imitation of Jack Benny, as when he stands on the battlements with dervishes tumbling in on all sides and stiffly observes: "Well! Here we are!" By contrast, Olivier's Mahdi is a small masterpiece of single-minded religious insanity-the lambent black eyes never blinking, the measured voice conjuring up holy terrors from his private heart of darkness...
Robert Ardrey's script much too neatly points up the similarity between fanatic Mahdi and fanatic general, and invents two dramatic confrontations between them that never occurred. But such blatant departures from history are rare. Vividly directed by Basil Dearden, Khartoum evokes the spirit and likeness of a brave, baffling soldier...