| Rhodes of Africa | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Berthold Viertel |
| Written by | Leslie Arliss Michael Barringer |
| Based on | Rhodes bySarah Millin |
| Starring | Walter Huston Oskar Homolka Basil Sydney |
| Narrated by | Leo Genn |
| Cinematography | S.R. Bonnett Bernard Knowles |
| Edited by | Derek Twist |
| Music by | Hubert Bath |
| Distributed by | Gaumont British Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Rhodes of Africa is a 1936 Britishbiographical film charting the life ofCecil Rhodes. It was directed byBerthold Viertel and starredWalter Huston,Oskar Homolka,Basil Sydney, andBernard Lee.[1]
The movie begins with the captions: "Thelife ofCecil Rhodes is adrama of theman who set out single-handed to unite acontinent. In the pursuit of this task, he spared neither himself nor others. By some he was hailed as aninspired leader, by others he was reviled as an ambitious adventurer. But to theMatabele--the verypeople he hadconquered--he was a Royal Warrior, who tempered conquest with the gift of ruling. At hisdeath, they gave to him, alone ofwhite men before or since, theirRoyal Salute Bayete! Perhaps these children ofAfrica came closest to understanding the heart of this extraordinary man" which explain that there iscontroversy about Cecil Rhodes: whether he was ahero and an inspirational figure, or ambitious adventurer.
The film opens with an explanation of whatSouth Africa's map looked like in the year 1870. After the explanation the film shows a family in theCape Colony that have found adiamond. Following this, a completediamond rush began. Then, Rhodes made his first appearance on the film, in the Kimberley Club. There, he meets his opponent who plans to buy all theKimberleymines, and Rhodes says that is also what he plans to do. Then he goes to the doctor, who tells him he only has six more years to live. After they talk, the doctor claims that Rhodes has a desire to live, which is better than any medicine he can give.
Ten years later, his doctor says that he doesn't believe it, and congratulates Rhodes for managing to purchase all the mines inKimberly. Then, he says, ten years ago, he only gave him six more years to live, and Rhodes said he had not even a spare moment to think about it ever since. After they had a little chat, Rhodes's opponent came in and said he did not understand how Rhodes managed to win; Rhodes explained to him that his employees spied on him, gave Rhodes all theinside info, and that is why Rhodes managed to win. After Rhodes's opponent gets less mad, Rhodes said he wants to invite him to work for his company.
Rhodes shows the map ofAfrica to his employees atBritish South Africa Company, explaining that north of where they are, theTransvaal Republic has rich gold mines, and that this poor country is no longer poor. These mines are not available to them, but in the land north from Transvaal, who knows what they will find,gold,copper,coal, fertile land foragriculture. He explained that the diamonds they found could be over, so he had to expand. At first there was resistance, but then he was able to persuade them.
The TransvaalPresident, his mother, and his friend - Henry talking about Rhodes with a woman who came to visit them. They are aware that Rhodes is planning to meetLobengula, and Kroger (the Transvaal president) tells Henry that he must get there first and warnLobengula. As Rhodes enters into the borders of the land of Lobengula, many local people surround him, bringing him to theirking. At first, Lobengula is angry that all thewhite men who come to this country want something from him, saying that if he could have gotten rid of every one of them, he would have done it. His soldiers start aiming their javelins at him, but then Rhodes said he wants to talk to the king, and they took down thejavelins. Rhodes told king Lobengula will not be able to get any rest from all the white people who come to bother him unless he makes a deal with one such person strong enough to protect him. After a little persuasion, he shows him a contract and Lobengula signs it.
A few days later, Rhodes arrives to the house of the president of theBoers, informing him that he has managed to obtain the land of Lobengula. He says the two strongest countries in Africa need to work together, otherwise there will be war.Krueger says that if there was a war it would be the fault of the English and not his fault. Rhodes says it doesn't matter who it is, because if there is a war, it will destroy what Rhodes built and what Kruger built. Kruger refuses, saying they will not fight and will not work together.
Two doctors who talk about Rhodes' dire health, and say it's a tragedy, an entire country named after him, he just returned from London where they received him as king, and he has heart problems. The other doctor says it is a miracle that not much happened before the sea before and that only his ideology could keep him alive so much.
Some people were complaining to Kruger, telling him that he called people from all over the world to come and develop his country, and in response to his outcry they came. All of Johannesburg was built from their own money, but his laws give them fewer rights. The police only protects only the Boers and not them. Their fields were attacked by an epidemic, and they couldn't save their crops because according to Kruger, an epidemic in those fields is a punishment from the sky. Paul Kruger refuses to listen to them, so they decide to take a train south, to Cape Town, to Rhodes. At first, they told that they cannot say one thing in Southern Africa that Rhodes did not improve and they ask him, as Cape Colony's prime minister, and the director of the British South African company, and ask him to send troops to protect them. They say they will get rights and freedom, and that Rhodes will get a united South Africa. He collapses, and his doctors bring him to rest, telling people from Transvaal that soon he will be fine and that he can talk to them. At the house of the Transvaal president, some people came over him and said they refused to come out before he realized what was really going on. He says they stopped a truck full of oil tanks – all the containers were full of ammunition. They are trying to get him to give the signal, to start fighting, and he says they should be given time.
At the border between British South African colonies, and Transvaal, the soldiers of the British South African Company's army were already impatient. They send a letter to Rhodes asking that they leave as soon as possible. Rhodes says this to people who came to ask for help in their revolt, but they say they're not ready yet. When Rhodes heard that the Boer forces had captured the British forces he had sent to the border, he went straight to Jonasburg, to meet Kruger to ask for them to be released. Kruger initially refused, but then Rhodes claims he is no longer Cape Colony's prime minister, or the director of the British South African company – he resigned both jobs. He can no longer disturb Kroger and asks him to release the soldiers he kidnapped.
And then, the following text appears: "A few years later the clash came which Rhodes had foreseen-The Boer War. Out of this struggle rose the triumph of his life's ideal-The Union of South Africa. But Rhodes couldn't live to see it's fulfilment". The text explains that theSecond Boer War has begun, but Rhodes didn't live to see the end of the war. The movie ends with a scene where they show Rhodes dying, and then his dead body is brought toRhodesia, and the native tribes gave him their royal salute.[2]
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Cecil Rhodes | Walter Huston |
| Johannes Paul Kruger | Oskar Homolka |
| Dr Jim Jameson | Basil Sydney |
| Barney Barnato | Frank Cellier |
| Ann Carpenter, thewriter | Peggy Ashcroft |
| Mrs Kruger | Renee de Vaux |
| Cartwright | Bernard Lee |
| Reverend Charles Helm | Lewis Casson |
| Lobengula | Kumalo OfMatabeleland,Ndanisa |
| fiancée | Glennis Lorimer |
| man fromTransvaal | Felix Aylmer |
| Sara | Diana De Vaux |
| cast member | Ernest Jay |
| cast member | Julien Mitchell |
| Film director | Berthold Viertel |
| Director (Southern Africa Exteriors) | Geoffrey Barkas |
| Production Company | Gaumont-British |
| Film adaptation | Leslie Arliss |
| Adaption | Michael Barrington |
| Dialogue | Michael Barrington |
| Based on the book 'Rhodes' by | Sarah Gertrude Millin |
| Director of Photography (In Studio) | Bernard Knowles |
| Director of Photography (in S Africa) | S.R. Bonnett |
| Camera Assistant | Gerry Massey-Collier |
| Editor | D.N. Twist |
| Art Director | Werndorff, O. |
| Wardrobe | Strassner, J. |
| Music Director | Louis Levy |
| Recorder | A.F. Birch |
| Recorder | Dorte, F.H. |
The film was the idea of South African novelist Sara Millin, who pitched the idea of a film of Rhodes' life toMichael Balcon.[3] Plans to make the movie were abandoned whenGeneral Smuts expressed opposition to the project. However he changed his mind after he read a copy of the script.Leslie Banks,Clive Brook,Cedric Hardwicke andBrian Aherne were all discussed for the lead beforeWalter Huston was cast.[3]
Filming took place on location inSouthern Rhodesia in 1935.[4]
The movie soundtrack was composed byHubert Buth. Hubert was a British film composer and a music director. The composition and recordings were directed byLouis Levy. Levy was a film composer and a music director.
Writing forThe Spectator in 1936,Graham Greene gave the film a good review. Describing the film as "sober, worthy, [and] humourless", Greene observed that the tone of the biographical film was one ofmodern Liberalism, both "more charitable" and "with the anarchistic point of view of a man who never makes a moral condemnation". Greene also mentioned that "after ten days [he could] remember very little of this film but a sense of gentle titillation".[5]
The movie is considered the eighth best movie of the year 1936.Oskar Homolka won eighth best performance of the year for his portrayal of Paul Kruger inRhodes. Walter Huston won sixth best performance of the year for his portrayal of Cecil Rhodes.[6]
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