"FORTY THOUSAND HORSEMEN”

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 17 May 1941, Page 9

"FORTY THOUSAND HORSEMEN”

j "Forty Thousand Horsemen." pro- ! duced and directed by Charles Chauvel. this film of the Australian Light Horse | in the last war captures a good deal of | the “dinkum Aussie” spirit, not omitting a fair measure of richly-Australian j humour. Betty Bryant makes an attiactivc job of the part of Julie, with Grant Taylor as the other end of thcI romantic axis. But the men of the 1 Light Horse are the real heroes, shown j vividly in close-up by the extraordin- ! ary capable acting of “Chips” Rafferty. I The story opens with the death of I Julie's father at the hands of the Gerj mans, and her flight under the protection of a friendly Sheik. Meanwhile the Aussies, already beginning to feel that there is too little excitement about this war, are making hilarious whoopee in Cairo, with two-up—and pants on the donkey—and all. But the scene swiftly changes as they go into action, not at first with battles and sudden victories, but through gruelling marches across the desert. Both men and horses are splendid in these scenes, then almost terrifying in their dash when contact is made with the enemy.