[Editor: This review of the Australian war movie “Forty Thousand Horsemen” (1940) was published in The Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA), 25 January 1941. The film was about some Australian Light Horsemen and their adventures in the Middle East during the First World War (1914-1918); it included some scenes involving the Battle of Beersheba (1917).]
“Film is world-wide inspiration”
Old Light Horse campaigners of the last great war, who were amongst those of Palestine fame, remarked:—
“That charge of the Light Horse at Beersheba was so realistic at one stage of it I nearly swung my long right leg on the person in the seat in front of me.”
In stages emphasising a fantasia of frolic, in colourful Cairo, the hilarious initiation of Gyppos into the fascinations and fluctuating fortunes of two-up; the stark stolidity of the Light Horse in their trek across the soulless sizzling sands to avenge a British crisis; in the muffled thunder of hooves of the “Forty Thousand Horsemen,” as the Aussies relentlessly attacked the German directed arms of Allah, the spirit of Light Horse in Egypt is caught up again in martial majesty and seemingly faultless technique, to win appreciation more spontaneously and understandingly, the great achievements that “elminated the German domination of the Holy Land.”
“Red” Gallagher, Jim and Larry are the Three Musketeers of the Light Horse. While all have done well — the “Chips” Rafferty as Jim, with his bush characteristics and bush philosophy reflects the fact that Charles Chauvel is himself a New Englander, and knows his Light Horsemen of the 1915-1918 war in Palestine.
As it is long Jim, who, on the long thirsty, gruelling trek, answers the query: “Why do we fight?” — “To let some soap-box orator speak in the Domain; — and, if we want to, the right to tell the blanky boss what to do with his blanky job.”
That’s the soldier spirit of it — today in Egypt Australians in armoured hats; then in Palestine, on “Forty Thousand Horsemen.”
The supporting attraction is the grand comedy drama with the one old lady of the screen, May Robson, in “Granny Get Your Gun.” Other items included in the programme are “Porky’s Hotel” a cartoon, the musical with Ray Kinney and his band, “Britain at Bay” a Department of Information film and the Gaumont British Newsreel which includes interviews with American Ambassador Joseph Kennedy and the late Lord Lothian.
Source:
The Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA), 25 January 1941, p. 5
Editor’s notes:
An advertisement for “Forty Thousand Horsemen”, showing at the Ozone Theatre in Mount Gambier, appeared on the same page as this article.
See: “The Anzacs Ride Again: Forty Thousand Horsemen”, The Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA), 25 January 1941, p. 5
Allah = the name of God, as used in the religion of Islam
Aussie = an Australian; something that is Australian in origin or style; of or relating to Australia or the Australian people (plural: Aussies)
blanky = substitution for a swear word (such as “bloody”)
Cairo = the capital city of Egypt
Charles Chauvel = Charles Edward Chauvel (1897-1959), a movie director, producer and screenwriter; he was born in Warwick (Qld.) in 1897, and died in Sydney (NSW) in 1959
See: 1) A. F. Pike, “Chauvel, Charles Edward (1897–1959)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “Charles Chauvel (filmmaker)”, Wikipedia
“Chips” Rafferty = the screen name of actor John William Pilbean Goffage Pilbean (1909-1971); he was born in Broken Hill (NSW) in 1909, and died in Sydney (NSW) in 1971
See: 1) A. F. Pike, “Goffage, John William Pilbean (1909–1971)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “Chips Rafferty”, Wikipedia
the Domain = The Domain is a large area (34 hectares) of parkland in Sydney which is used for recreation, concerts, rallies, and various open-air events; it is located to the east of Sydney’s Central Business District and is adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens; The Domain has long had a reputation as a place used by “soap box” speakers (especially in the 20th Century) and organisers of political meetings
See: “The Domain, Sydney”, Wikipedia
fantasia = a musical composition characterised by a free-wheeling, improvisational, or unstructured production; a musical composition arranged in an irregular or fanciful style; a musical medley (especially one comprised of popular music); something comprised of different forms or styles (e.g. in music, theatre, entertainment); a fantasy or a whimsical illusion produced by a fanciful imagination; something which is considered to be weird, unreal, exotic, or grotesque (an alternative archaic spelling is: phantasia)
Forty Thousand Horsemen = an Australian war movie, released in 1940, about some Australian Light Horsemen and their adventures in the Middle East during the First World War (1914-1918); it was directed by Charles Chauvel
See: 1) “Forty Thousand Horsemen”, Australian Screen (National Film and Sound Archive of Australia)
2) “Forty Thousand Horsemen”, Wikipedia
Gyppo = a person of Egyptian ethnicity (especially used during and after the First World War, following the stationing of many Australian soldiers in Egypt); of or relating to Egypt or the Egyptian people; a person of Gypsy ethnicity; of or relating to the Gypsy people (plural: Gyppos; also spelt: Gippo)
Light Horse = the Australian Light Horse, which usually operated as mounted infantry, but was also used in cavalry roles; Light Horse units were later repurposed into other roles, such as armoured vehicle units (e.g. the Australian 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment)
See: “Australian Light Horse”, Wikipedia
martial = of or relating to the military, soldiers, or warfare; having a military bearing; characteristic of a soldier or a warrior (derived from Mars, the Roman god of war)
New Englander = someone from New England (a region in the north of New South Wales)
See: “New England (New South Wales)”, Wikipedia
stolidity = the characteristic of being stolid (impassive, showing little or no emotion)
Three Musketeers = any trio of firm friends or close comrades; derived from the novel, The Three Musketeers (1844), written by the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)
two-up = a gambling game in which two coins are tossed (or spun) into the air, from a flat piece of wood, and bets are made on the outcome, as to whether the coins will land heads up, tails up, or one of each
See: “Two-up”, Wikipedia
[Editor: Changed “last great war were amongst those” to “last great war, who were amongst those”.]
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