The Adventurers (1951 film)

The Adventurers is a 1951 British adventure film directed by David MacDonald and starring Dennis Price, Jack Hawkins, Peter Hammond.[1] In the wake of the Boer War several men journey into the South African veldt in search of diamonds.

The Adventurers
Original British 1-sheet poster
Directed byDavid MacDonald
Produced byAubrey Baring
Maxwell Setton (uncredited)
Written byRobert Westerby
Based onstory by Westerby
StarringDennis Price
Jack Hawkins
Siobhan McKenna
Music byCedric Thorpe Davie
CinematographyOswald Morris
Edited byVladimir Sagovsky
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release date
7 March 1951 (London)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

It was also known as Fortune in Diamonds, The Great Adventure and The South African Story.

It was one of a series of movies made by the British film industry after World War Two which were set (and filmed) in the dominions.[2][3]

Plot

In 1902 as the Boer War finalises a South African soldier, Pieter Brandt, hides a cache of diamonds he finds on a body. He returns to the town he left three years earlier where his girl, Anne, has married a disgraced English officer, Clive Hunter.

Needing funds to get back to pick up the diamonds the Boer enlists the help of his former comrade, Hendrik Von Thaal, as well as Hunter and a bar owner called Dominic.

The four men set off to find the diamonds but they end up betraying each other.

Cast

Production

The film was based on an original story by the novelist and screenwriter Robert Westerby, one of several he wrote for the independent production company Mayflower Pictures.

Jack Hawkins was borrowed from British Lion. Director David MacDonald had just made Diamond City (1949) also on location in South Africa.

It was made at Pinewood Studios, with some location filming in South Africa beforehand near Johannesburg. Production started in May 1950 and was completed by September.[4][5] The film wasn't released until the following March by General Film Distributors.

Release

The film was originally known as The South Africa Story. It had its world premiere aboard the Queen Mary liner.[6] The film was cut by 12 minutes for its U.S. release, and was twice retitled, as Fortune in Diamonds and The Great Adventure.[7]

Critical reception

Allmovie noted "an African variation of Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Adventurers is buoyed by an unusually vicious performance by Jack Hawkins" ;[8] while the Radio Times wrote, "this could have been quite stirring if it hadn't been morbidly under-directed at a snail's pace by David MacDonald" ;[7] and TV Guide found that, despite its borrowings from Sierra Madre and from von Stroheim's Greed, "it is nevertheless an often-gripping film."[9]

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References
  1. "The Adventurers". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
  2. Carry On, Cowboy: Roast Beef Westerns Hall, Sheldon. Iluminace; Praha Vol. 24, Iss. 3, (2012): 103-125.
  3. Vagg, Stephen (17 May 2020). "Roast Beef Westerns". Filmink.
  4. Round the British Studios Nepean, Edith. Picture Show; London Vol. 55, Iss. 1433, (Sep 16, 1950): 7.
  5. "British Star, Back Home, Gets Candid". Truth (3145). New South Wales, Australia. 7 May 1950. p. 44. Retrieved 1 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "Germans to see Australian film". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 19 May 1951. p. 11 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  7. Tony Sloman. "The Adventurers". RadioTimes.
  8. "Fortune in Diamonds (1951) – Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast – AllMovie". AllMovie.
  9. "The Adventurers". TV Guide.
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