The Lighthorsemen (1987)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Simon Wincer

Writer:

Ian Jones (writer)

Release Date:

8 April 1988 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

They did what they were told...They didn't know it was impossible

Plot:

Palestine, 1917. The British advance has been stopped by the Turkish line running from Gaza to Beersheba...

Plot Keywords:

Gaza | Regiment | Beersheba | Hospital | Bedouin

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Peter Phelps	...	Dave Mitchell
Nick Waters	...	Lighthorse Sergeant
John Larking	...	Station Master
John Heywood	...	Dave's Dad
Di O'Connor	...	Dave's Mum
Shane Briant	...	Reichert
Ralph Cotterill	...	Gen. Friedrich von Kressenstein
Bill Kerr	...	Gen. Sir Harry Chauvel
Grant Piro	...	Charlie
Tony Bonner	...	Col. Murray Bourchier
Serge Lazareff	...	Rankin
Gary Sweet	...	Frank
John Walton	...	Tas
Tim McKenzie	...	Chiller
Jon Blake	...	Scotty

Also Known As:

The Light Horse Men (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
The Light Horsemen (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
The Lighthorse Men (International: English title) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

131 min | Canada:115 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Belgium:16 (video rating) | Australia:PG | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Corryong, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

Lead Actor Jon Blake was injured in a car accident near Nectar Brook, South Australia after shooting had wrapped on the last day of filming, 1 December 1986.

Quotes:

Dave: Hey, Scotty, you're not Scotch, are you?
Scotty: No.
Dave: Then, why do they call you Scotty?
[Scotty thinks]
Scotty: Cause I'm Irish.

Movie Connections:

Edited into The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Daredevils of the Desert (1999) (V)

Soundtrack:

AUSTRALIA WILL BE THERE

Rousing

A First World War Australian cavalry -- sorry, mounted infantry -- film set in the Holy Land, that's not something one tends to see every day. So, for me, the fact that, yes, the characters and situations can be a little clichéd at times is far outweighed by the novelty of the whole scenario. Quibbles are easy to put to one side.

The cavalry distinction is important. Cavalry would be armed with carbines and sabres. Mounted infantry have rifles and dismount in order to fight. This subtlety plays a part in the outcome.

A series of small skirmishes heightens tension within the film until the exciting finale, when there is a fantastic, large scale, cav ... mounted infantry charge which got my pulse racing. You'll recall something similar in David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia". This set piece is bigger. Johnny Turk was the villain that time too.

This being an Australian Imperial Force meets the British Army sort of film, there is bound to be a little Pommy-bashing going 'round. When I lived briefly in Australia a decade ago, I found Pommy-bashing to be the single unattractive facet to the Australian national character. (The Kiwis don't do it. We like Poms here too. Pity the Dominions can't agree on that one.) So while some of the Poms in this film might be a few sheep short of a paddock, still there *is* balance, with one Pom who is much cleverer than the average. Bashing even works its way into the plot, a nice touch that.

The film does not use an excessive amount of Strine lingo -- billy, tucker -- so very little acclimatization is necessary for the uninitiated.

I can't vouch for the overall authenticity of this film. But I did notice that campaign map in the Turkish commander's office. It's labelled in Arabic only. Egypt is identified as "Misr". Geez, that is the correct Arabic name. And the Ottomans were still using the Arabic alphabet at the time. (It's Atatürk after the war who switched Turkish over to the Roman alphabet.) The thing's fair dinkum, mate. If they cared enough to get details like that right, then I'm sure that says a lot about the effort put into the film as a whole.

There is an earlier Australian film about the Light Horse I'd like to see, "Forty Thousand Horsemen" from 1940 or '41 (sources differ). Finding a copy of that film in this hemisphere though would be extraordinary, a bit like finding a North American who likes Vegemite.