East of Sudan

Aside from the fact that much of this seems to have been cannibalised from "The Four Feathers" (1939), it makes for quite an entertaining action adventure with Anthony Quayle ("Baker") and Sylvia Sims ("Miss Woodville") trying to help smuggle the young daughter of the Emir of Barash "Asua" (Jenny Agutter) through the lines of the Mahdi's army that is challenging the British in the Sudan. It's a cheap and cheerful adventure, with a minimal budget and some rather static indoor sets that let it down rather - and Quayle was always a much better stage actor than he was on screen, but that said there's a little chemistry on screen between the two leads and just enough action to keep the thread from unravelling. Not a film you are likely to recall seeing, but it is still watchable in a boy's own adventure sort of way.

Derring-do in the desert, re-teaming Anthony Quale and Sylvia Sims, who previously appeared together trekking across the desert in "Ice Cold in Alex" (1958). Along for the ride are Derek Fowlds (from "Yes Minister") and a young Jenny Agutter, whom viewers may remember from "Logan's Run" (1976). This time, however, instead of trying to stay one jump ahead of "Jerry" in the Western Desert, Tony and Sylvie are on the run from Dervishes, Arab slavers and Fuzzy-Wuzzies in 1880's Sudan.

Most of the action sequences are lifted straight out of the 1939 film version of "The Four Feathers." However, that is not a bad thing, since "The Four Feathers" was one of the greatest action-adventure films ever produced and, unlike the dreadful 2002 remake, actually was filmed entirely on location in the Sudan, something which would be impossible today.

Anthony Quale plays an experienced British "Squaddie" trying to escape to Khartoum after his entire unit has gotten the chop. En route he falls in with a green young Lieutenant (Fowlds) along with a prudish British governess (Sims) and her Egyptian charge played by young Jenny Agutter in her first film role. Quale quickly demonstrates that he is the only one of the mismatched group who is able to distinguish his sphincter from his medial brachial joint. However, his principal difficulty is in persuading his upper-class companions to accept the leadership of a mere "prole". This film may not quite be up to the quality of "The Four Feathers", nor even of "Ice Cold in Alex", but it is an entertaining journey nonetheless.

EoS has been screened several times recently on British TV and the synopsis seemed promising. It turned out to be a mix of "Ice Cold in Alex" (Anthony Quayle and Sylvia Syms escaping from a beleaguered town), "North West Frontier" (heroic Brit, governess and child escaping from a beleaguered town), "The Four Feathers" (much stock footage) and several travelogues (stock footage of various animals and native dancing).

Other reviewers here on IMDb have already commented on the amateurish mixing in of the footage of charging animals. I am resigned to the heroine in films of this vintage apparently having access to make-up and hairdressing facilities as she undergoes various privations, Miss Woodville continuing to look glamorous at the end. And Murchison's rapidly falling in love with Miss Woodville is par for the course, though usually in films such relationships develop into a three-way romance with rivalry between the two men. In EoS his passion seems to have fizzled out as quickly as it appeared.

But there were at least three risible scenes. The first was when, after Baker had rued the small stock of ammunition, Murchison fires his revolver several times in enemy country to stampede a herd of animals to delight Asua. Then he sets off the signal fire when he sees a boat on the Nile. Not even the most callow officer would be so stupid. Thirdly, when the fugitives are hiding from the slavers they are barely concealed by a few fronds of foliage; they are fully visible to the camera - and thus to the men searching for them inches away who do not notice them.

One might also think Baker very well-spoken for a private soldier who had been demoted from sergeant several times, but, as other films ("Beau Geste", "Under Two Flags") have shown, "gentleman-rankers" did exist.

A grand old slice of stiff-upper-lipped adventure, set during the glory days of the British Empire. The first thing noticeable about EAST OF SUDAN is the cheapness of its production – this is one of those films that relies heavily on stock footage and footage borrowed from other films, most notably the 1939 version of THE FOUR FEATHERS. The 'new' scenes, building a framework of narrative around these borrowed set-pieces, are clearly shot on a studio backlot at Shepperton and never have more than a few actors on screen at the same time.

As for the story – don't go looking for one, and you won't be disappointed. Burly soldier Baker (Anthony Quayle, today forgotten but then riding high on a number of successes) escapes from a city besieged by the Mahdi's forces and finds himself travelling the Nile with a disparate group of survivors. There's the lovely Sylvia Sims, playing one of those dated parts - a feisty, independent woman who nonetheless ends up a damsel in distress during key sequences and keeps having to be rescued and carried away by the men. Derek Fowlds, better known for his television work in YES, PRIME MINISTER and HEARTBEAT in later years, is fairly bland as a nondescript soldier but a youthful Jenny Agutter, swathed within an ill-fitting black wig, shows glimpses of her star presence as an orphaned child.

All of the clichés of this era are present and correct – stock footage crocodiles, rhinos, elephants, and copious back projection. None of it is remotely convincing, and nor are the climactic siege sequences set in Khartoum, where footage from THE FOUR FEATHERS pretty much takes over the film. Such moments are, however, highly amusing. EAST OF SUDAN's one saving grace is the presence of director Nathan Juran, formerly of JACK THE GIANT KILLER. Juran is one of my favourite directors – his movies were inevitably colourful romps (even the black and white ones!) and this is no exception. There's something resolutely old-fashioned and thrilling about the tough characters and survival scenarios, and if you take the dated scenes involving angry natives with a pinch of salt you might just find yourself enjoying it.

Adventure set in Sudan in the 1880s where the British are fighting the Mahdi forces attempting to end the slave trade.

With Khartoum under siege, two British soldiers help a governess and her charge to safety. On their adventurous journey down the river Nile, they encounter wild animals, native tribes and even romance.

The stock footages and the fact it was shot in a studio is obvious, but it's not a boring film. It's an old-fashioned adventure film that invokes the child in us. Plus it's got the underrated Anthony Quayle who stars in a role that would've been tailor made for Stewart Granger. Nice action sequences rounds up this colourful romp that Nathan Juran knows how to make.