Directed by:
Moustapha AkkadScreenplay:
H.A.L. CraigCinematography:
Jack HildyardComposer:
Maurice JarreCast:
Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, Irene Papas, Raf Vallone, Rod Steiger, John Gielgud, Andrew Keir, Gastone Moschin, Stefano Patrizi, Adolfo Lastretti, Sky du Mont (more)Plots(1)
The year is 1929 and dictator Benito Mussolini is still faced with the 20-year long war waged by Bedouin patriots to combat Italian colonisation and the establishment of The Fourth Shore - re-birth of a Roman Empire in Africa. Mussolini appoints General Rodolfo Graziani as his sixth governor to Libya, confident that the eminently accredited soldier can crush the rebellion and restore the dissipated glories of Imperial Rome. Inspirational in the resistance towards the oppressors is the leadership of one man Omar Mukhtar. A teacher by profession, guerrilla by obligation, Mukhtar has committed himself to a war that cannot be won in his own lifetime. Arrogant Imperialist - ideological visionary - the conflict is between two implacable enemies. Graziani controls North Africa with the might of the Italian Army. Tanks and airplanes are used in the desert for the first time. Despite mindless bravery, the Bedouin suffer crippling losses, their primitive weaponry no match for mechanized warfare. And still they strike back. (Anchor Bay Films)
(more)Cast
Mario Feliciani
Italy
Best movies:
Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
Everybody Go Home (1960)
The Great War (1959)
Alfonso Giganti
Best movies:
The Scarlet and the Black (1983) (TV movie)
The Life of Verdi (1982) (series)
The Octopus (1984) (series)
Alec Mango
UK
Best movies:
Lust for Life (1956)
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
Robert Brown
UK
Best movies:
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Third Man (1949)
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (TV movie)
George Sweeney
UK
Best movies:
G:MT Greenwich Mean Time (1999)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Victor Baring
UK
Best movies:
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
Young Toscanini (1988)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
Ewen Solon
New Zealand
Best movies:
The Silent Enemy (1958)
The Dam Busters (1955)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
Franco Fantasia
Italy
Best movies:
Ben-Hur (1959)
Waterloo (1970)
Marco Polo (1982) (series)
Amedeo Salamon
Best movies:
I Am Afraid (1977)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
Bread and Chocolate (1973)
Piero Gerlini
Italy
Best movies:
Twelve Plus One (1969)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
The Count of Monte-Cristo (1975) (TV movie)
Filippo De Gara
Italy
Best movies:
Rodolfo Bigotti
Best movies:
State buoni... se potete (1983)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
Stay as You Are (1978)
Giordano Falzoni
Best movies:
The Name of the Rose (1986)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
The Warning (1980)
Takis Emmanuel
Best movies:
Alexis Zorbas (1964)
Electra (1962)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
Angelo Ragusa
Best movies:
The Big Racket (1976)
Suburra (2015)
Death Drive (1977)
Eleonora Stathopoulou
Best movies:
Iphigenia (1977)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
Loris Bazzocchi
Italy
Best movies:
The Octopus (1984) (series)
Lion of the Desert (1981)
The Desert of the Tartars (1976)