Saturday, September 29, 2018

Listen to Frank Cordell’s Ambitious Score to Khartoum (1966), the Epic Tale of Gen. Charles Gordon

 

 

Re-posted by Nicholas Stix

With the exception of the masterpiece/classic year of 1962,* the 1960s was a lousy decade for pictures.

However, one genre that produced several excellent pictures during that decade was of the British Empire’s battles in and around its colonies in primitive lands, and stories set in North Africa.

In Khartoum, Charlton Heston played Gen. Charles “Chinese” Gordon.

I saw this in a theater. Couldn't have been more than eight years old. All I remember is the death of Gordon, that Chuck Heston played him, and that Larry Olivier played the Moslem bad guy, who never blinked (I read that latter part later). That certainly wouldn't be permitted today!

There are traditional cinematic sounds of Araby; a little touch of Elgar begins at 4:15.

Other 1960s pictures of the genre included, most famously, Lawrence of Arabia (1962); A Boy Ten Feet Tall (1963); Guns at Batasi and Zulu (both 1964); Sands of the Kalahari and The Flight of the Phoenix (both 1965); and The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968).

There were surely others, as well. What stands out, of the pictures I saw, was that I recall none of them portraying white men as intrinsically evil, or even the British Empire as such.
 

Synopsis
By garykmcd

After an Egyptian army, commanded by British officers, is destroyed in a battle in the Sudan in the 1880's, the British government is in a quandary. It does not want to commit a British military force to a foreign war but they have a commitment to protect the Egyptians in Khartoum. They decide to ask General Charles "Chinese" Gordon, something of a folk hero in the Sudan as he had cleared the area of the slave trade, to arrange for the evacuation. Gordon agrees but also decides to defend the city against the forces of the Mahdi - the expected one - and tries to force the British to commit troops.


*1962

Lawrence of Arabia
To Kill a Mockingbird
Ride the High Country
The Manchurian Candidate
Lonely are the Brave
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
How the West was Won
Long Day’s Journey into Night
The Longest Day
Gypsy
The Music Man



Khartoum Soundtrack Suite (Frank Cordell)
 


 

 
Published on Jan 3, 2015 by Soundtrack Fred
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1966). Composed and Conducted by Frank Cordell.

Please note that the rights belong to the owner. Support the publishing company by buying the product, if possible, to get the full listening experience. Enjoy!

Get the Soundtrack:

http://amzn.to/1P2lWlX or directly from the label http://filmscoremonthly.com/cds/detai...
Get the Movie:
http://amzn.to/1P2kJuX

Music Awards:
- None

Playlist:
-00:00 = "Overture"
-02:25 = "Prologue"
-04:10 = "Gordon Meets Gladstone"
-05:11 = "Up The Nile"
-06:07 = "Intermission Music"
-07:40 = "Gordon Enters The Mahdi's Camp"
-08:10 = "The Cattle Raid"
-09:43 = "Prelude To Battle"
-10:26 = "Death Of General Gordon"
-12:07 = "End Title / Exit Music"

Music Source:
Film Score Monthly FSMCD Vol. 7, No. 2

More Information:

http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/ca...

Soundtrackfred at Facebook.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am not sure if the scene where Gordon alone enters the camp of the Mahdi was factual or not. Gordon was the White Messiah type of character. Bring the benefits of the Victorian era and Christianity to the dark skinned and unwashed masses.

Anonymous said...

And I thought the 1967-1972 era had some great movies.
"Cool Hand Luke"(1967)
"In the Heat of the Night"(1967)
"Bonnie and Clyde"(1967)
"The Graduate"(1967)
"The Dirty Dozen"(1967)
"You Only Live Twice"(James Bond 1967)
"Hombre"(1967)
"2001:A Space Odyssey "(1968)
"Planet of the Apes (1968)
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969)
"The Wild Bunch"(1969)
"Easy Rider"(1969)
"Patton"(1970)
"French Connection"(1971)
"Duel"(1971-TV movie)
"Dirty Harry"(1971)
"Godfather"(1972)
"The Last Picture Show"(1972)
Then on to "American Graffitti","Jaws","Star Wars" etc.
These just off the top of my head.
I can't name one in the last 5 years,that's been called a classic,unless you like Marvel superhero movies(I don't--BORING!)
--GR Anonymous

jeigheff said...

Thanks for the info, Nicholas! I once owned the Khartoum soundtrack on vinyl. The music is really stirring.

I have read that Gordon and the Mahdi corresponded with each other during the siege of Khartoum. So although they didn't meet in person, I can live with the fact that the movie took a couple liberties in this regard.

Anonymous said...

Besides the films mentioned above, the 1960s can also boast PSYCHO, THE BIRDS, SPARTACUS, THE HAUNTING, FANTASTIC VOYAGE, the Sergio Leone Westerns, ...BABY JANE, REPULSION, LORD OF THE FLIES, THE SERVANT, A SHOT IN THE DARK, THE PARTY, ...MAD MAD WORLD, THE TIME MACHINE, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, WEST SIDE STORY, ONE TWO THREE, DR. STRANGELOVE, FAIL SAFE, THE NAKED PREY, THE SWIMMER, SECONDS, THE PAWNBROKER, THE HUSTLER, and numerous outstanding foreign-language films... "A lousy decade for pictures"???