Storm Over the Nile

A tepid remake of their spectacular 1939 version, one wonders what the Korda's where thinking. Indeed much of the location footage is recycled directly from the 1939 film including the whole final battle, aside from some closeups of the 1955 actors. Mildly entertaining, but the 1939 version is better, much much better.

A lot of critics gave this movie a really hard time. I never read critical reviews until I've seen a film and I must confess that I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Maybe it did use footage from a previous shoot and there were certainly flaws. But all in all, this was a good schoolboy yarn. I liked the lengthy build up to the scenes in Sudan, it really helped set the scene and made you care about the characters. The plot lingered long enough to give the viewer a feel of the longevity of the piece. The plot was well moved along and there was suitable emotion shown. James Robertson Justice so often just barks out his lines and in this movie he....Well, just barked out his lines! A real shame. A small blemish on an otherwise enjoyable movie.

Sweeping new adaptation plenty of idealism ,heroism , friendship , redemption and overwhelming battles. It's a great classical movie of the British imperialism adventure , a genuine ripping yarn picking up several stunning images and with some stirring action taken from the quite better 1939 version . This fifth rendition about known story by A. E. W. Mason concerns a British young officer named Harry Faversham (Anthony Steel). Resigning from Army , he's rejected by his father-in-law (James Robertson Justice) and his engaged fiancée (Mary Ure), branded a coward and sent four white feathers by his friends (Ronald Lewis, Laurence Harvey, Ian Carmichael) . Determined to save his honor he heads to Sudan campaign against Derviches who previously (thirteen years before) had murdered General Gordon in Karthoum. There arrives the expedition of help commanded by General Wolsey and Kitchener for stifle the rebellious Sudan's tribes ruled by 'the Madhdi' , the ¨expected one¨ (events developed in ¨Khartoum¨ film -1966- with Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier , directed by Basil Dearden) . The Madhi along with Arab tribes had besieged Khartoum (1884) and vanquished General Gordon . Faversham disguised himself as a native will save his friends from certain death and he will retrieve the lost honors .

This is a spectacular adventure detailing the epic feats of a brave hero, containing noisy action, idealism , romance , unlimited courage , breathtaking battles and impressive landscapes . It's a typically polished British and packs real enthusiasm of the imperialist arrogance along with standard heroic issues . Anthony Steel as stubborn officer is fine , Laurence Harvey as his best friend is convincingly played and Mary Ure as his girlfriend is enjoyable . Special mention for James Roberson Justice as swagger general Burroughs . Solid performances all around and excellent plethora of secondaries as Christopher Lee , Ferdy Mayne , Michael Hordern , Geoffrey Keen , among them . Sensational battle scenes staged by means of thousands of extras , though partially taken from former film directed by Zoltan Korda . Evocative cinematography in superb Technicolor camera-work , showing the late 1800's and sunny African landscapes by two cameramen : Edward Scaife and Osmond Borradaille for exterior photography in Sudan and interior filmed in Shepperton studios . Rousing and impressive musical score by Benjamin Frankel . The motion picture was professionally directed by Zoltan Korda and Terence Young with imagination and fair-play enough .

Other adaptations about this famous story are the following ones : the old and silent renditions filmed in 1915 , 1921 , and 1929 directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper with Richard Arlen, Fay Wray and Clive Brook ; the classic rendition by Zoltan Korda (1939) with John Clemens , Ralph Richardson and Jane Duprez ; and for TV (1978) by Don Sharp with Beau Bridges , Jane Seymour , Robert Powell and eventually , a modern rendition with Heath Ledger , Kate Hudson , Wes Bentley , and Michael Sheen .

If the name The Sudan is familiar today it is probably on account of the constant references to the exploits of his youth by Jonesy in 'Dad's Army' of the time he spent engaging the Mad Mahdi, briefly seen played by John Laurie in footage from the 1939 version.

Here you get a chance to see the thing played straight in this CinemaScope remake by Zoltan Korda of his classic thirties Ripping Yarn back in the days when Britain still had an empire.

Anthony Steel is a colourless substitute for John Clements as Harry Faversham and the less said about Lawrence Harvey in the role originally played by Ralph Richardson the better; but the late Mary Ure makes a charming and gracious heroine, while Osmond Borradaile's original location footage continued to give good value in this and a subsequent seventies version.

One Sunday afternoon in 1982 BBC 1 broadcast STORM OVER THE NILE . Nothing remarkable in itself with this scheduling but later that evening the ITV channel broadcast THE FOUR FEATHERS remake from the late 1970s ! Two different versions of the same story broadcast a few hours within each other on the two network channels ! Amazing , and not something that was unnoticed since myself and several school colleagues remarked upon this the next day . We were all in unanimous agreement that STORM OVER THE NILE was the much superior movie . Strangely over the years every time Terence Young's version is broadcast the TV guides don't have kind words for the 1955 film version of AEW Mason's story and after seeing the original 1939 version of THE FOUR FEATHERS I understand why - It's a rip off !

In the past I have criticised movies like CRITICAL MASS and RANGERS that use extensive film footage from other movies like TERMINATOR 2 and NAVY SEALS . With STORM we see the exact same thing . The truly great battle scenes weren't directed by Young they were directed by Zoltan Korda almost 20 years earlier . To be fair I don't think the producers are claiming that this is an entirely original movie hence the credit for both Korda and Young in the directors slot but I did see the 1939 version a week earlier on channel 4 and this spoils the enjoyment of STORM since the script is identical as are most of the action scenes . If you've never seen the original you'll like this movie but if you remember the unforgettable 1939 version by the Korda brothers you'll be left with a cynical feeling watching this