The last of Fort Kandahar
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The last of Fort Kandahar |
| Original title | The Brigand of Kandahar |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1965 |
| length | 82 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Gilling |
| script | John Gilling |
| production | Anthony Nelson Keys |
| music | Don Banks |
| camera | Reginald H. Wyer |
| cut |
Tom Simpson , James Needs (Editing Supervisor) |
| occupation | |
| |
The Last of Fort Kandahar is a 1964 British adventure film set in the colonial era from the Hammer Films production with Ronald Lewis as the professional officer changing sides, Oliver Reed as the Indian-Afghan rebel leader and Duncan Lamont as the commander of the eponymous fort in the leading roles .
action
The setting is an English outpost in the far north-west of the British colony of India, today's Afghanistan, around the year 1850. The garrison is largely bored, as things rarely happen in this remote part of the Empire. Ltnt. Case has a difficult position in his regiment, which is shaped by racial prejudice and class arrogance, because Indian blood also flows through his veins. The fact that he is having an affair with the Englishwoman Elsa, the wife of one of his comrades, does not make his position there any easier. Elsa wants to end this relationship, which is perceived as scandalous. During an operation outside the fortress, in which Case also takes part, an English soldier is captured by insurgent locals, as Case reported in a report to his superior, Colonel Drewe. As luck would have it, this comrade is, of all people, Elsa's husband. But since Case managed to return alone, he is accused of cowardice in front of the enemy. It is rumored behind closed doors that the not “purely British” case might have fraternized with the enemy and de facto sacrificed their comrades.
Colonel Drewe thereupon files a court martial against Ltnt. Case. The verdict determines his guilt: Case is demoted and sentenced to prison. Deeply convinced of the injustice of this judgment, Case breaks out of prison and flees into the mountains, where the insurgents are hiding. Ltnt. Case immediately gets into their hands and is received and interrogated by the leader Ali Khan. Khan makes Case the offer to find refuge here in order to be able to get revenge on the British. For this, Case Ali's warriors have to lead to the gates of the fortress. He is ready to do so, but demands a guarantee that civilians will have to be spared. Ali Khan has meanwhile severely abused Elsa husband. During his stay with the insurgents, Ltnt. Case gets to know Ali's sister, the beautiful and classy Ratina, who makes a great impression on him. Soon he becomes interested in her while Ali Khan goes on a fact-finding mission with some of his people.
In the meantime, a certain James Marriott, a newspaper correspondent from England, has arrived at the fort. He heard about the court martial against Case and wants to report on it. When he wants to talk to Elsa about Case, she brushes him off rather harshly and insinuates that he is greedy for sensation. Meanwhile, Colonel Drewe has the area combed to find the hiding place of Ali Khan and his rebels. To increase the pressure, Drewe even threatens the locals with the shooting of one of their own. The threatening gesture succeeds, and a group of volunteers follows the indicated lead to Ali Khan's people. Marriott is also there, but the troop is soon ambushed and a brief but violent skirmish ensues, in which some soldiers die. The rest are captured by the insurgents, including the newspaper reporter. Marriott recognizes Case, who warns him and the others not to try to escape. Case finally kills Elsa's husband, who was so badly mutilated by Ali Khan that he has little chance of survival. Then he releases Marriott with the condition that he ride back to Fort Kandahar and deliver the following message to Colonel Drewe: The life of every civilian who now sets out to leave the area should be spared.
Colonel Drewe agrees and lets all civilians go with a small military escort. Ratina disapproves of Case's declaration of guarantee and, while her brother is away, ensures that the military escort with the civilians is attacked. The Marriott, who is also among the civilians, is knocked down. Elsa is kidnapped and taken to the cave, the headquarters of the rebels. Here she meets her former lover again and has to learn that her husband is dead. A little later, Ali Khan returns from the scouting trip and announces that the British are obviously expecting military reinforcements. So Khan ordered an attack on Kandahar Fort the following day. Ratina shows up in her jealousy towards Elsa and wants to get rid of it as soon as possible. Khan shows an interest in possessing Elsa as his own personal booty. But Case definitely wants to protect his ex-lover from the barbarians. Khan challenges the half-British man to man to fight. During the duel, Elsa manages to escape together with Marriott, and both ride back to Fort Kandahar to warn Colonel Drewe and his people of the imminent general attack by the insurgents. The duel between Case and Ali Khan ends in favor of the British ex-officer who strangles the gang leader. Then, with Ratina's support, he names himself the new rebel chief.
When the attack on Fort Kandahar is due to begin the following day, the rebels under Case's leadership are ambushed by the English. The overwhelming power of the British is enormous, and the defeat of the insurgents no longer seems to be averted. The mounted Bengal Lancers finish off the enemy. Case is wounded by a bullet and at the last second manages to escape on a captured horse. As he gallops back to the cave, Colonel Drewe and his men follow him. Driven into the corner, there is a brief exchange of fire between Case and his former superior Drewe. Ratina appears on the scene and throws herself into the fray. When she also opens fire on the English, they too are shot. Eventually, both Case and Ratina die in the hail of bullets. Both hands touch each other in agony. Back at the fort, Colonel Drewe is supposed to answer reporter James Marriott for his next article. The journalist violently attacks the commanding officer and accuses him of having driven Case into the arms of the rebels through his racism and thus losing a capable officer. Then the newspaper man says with cool anger: “I will write about the brave men, but not about them. It's worth writing about the former, don't you think? ”. In the final picture you can see military reinforcements riding to Fort Kandahar to the sound of the horns.
Production notes
The Last of Fort Kandahar was created in 1964 as a pure studio production in Elstree Studios and premiered on August 9, 1965 in London. The German premiere took place on July 12, 1975 on ARD . The exterior shots for this film were taken from archive material (especially from Terence Young's 1956 film “ Zarak Khan ”, which was also set in Afghanistan in the 19th century ).
The film structures were designed by Bernard Robinson , while James Needs was in charge of editing .
Reviews
The Movie & Video Guide briefly called the film “nonsense” and added that a good cast “makes a real effort”.
Halliwell's Film Guide found the film to be "a weak frontier adventure with nothing that sounds real".
"Weak adventure film against the background of failed British colonial politics."
On horrorview.com it is pointed out that the year before the colonial film adventure Zulu had been a great commercial success, and Hammer-Films was hoping for a similarly good deal with their cinematic snap shot. But there was the following problem: “The difficulty is that the film is caught between trying to fulfill its mandate, telling a patriotic action adventure ... and at the same time trying to question a racism that lurks behind the imperialism, this one Form of narrative primarily providing obstetrics. "
Individual evidence
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 167
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 145
- ↑ The Last of Fort Kandahar in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed September 16, 2018
- ↑ Review of The Last of Fort Kandahar on horrorview.com