Restored 70mm print!

Greenlit in the wake of Lawrence of Arabia, this “other” desert battle epic, directed by veteran British craftsman Basil Dearden and starring Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier, is none too shabby itself. Nothing if not timely given the subject of foreign intervention in Africa and the Middle East, Khartoum recounts the historical campaign of British Major-General Charles Gordon (Heston), dispatched in 1883 to the titular Sudanese city to restore order following the slaughter of 10,000 British-led Egyptian forces by the self-proclaimed Muslim prophet Muhammad Ahmad (Olivier). Spectacular battle scenes ensue in this thrilling epic that more than delivers on its advertised promise: “Where The Nile Divides, The Great Cinerama Adventure Begins!”