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The Horsemen (1971) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   282 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Joseph Kessel (novel)
Dalton Trumbo (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Horsemen on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
16 August 1971 (Sweden) more
Genre:
Tagline:
A Horse Worth Killing For. A Dream Worth Dying For.
Plot:
In the poor, desolate northern provinces of the mountainous feudal Sunni kingdom of Afghanistan (before the Soviet-engineered republican revolutions)... more | full synopsis
User Reviews:
'What a one-horned ram can do, a one-legged chapandaz can do better!' more (9 total)

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Omar Sharif ... Uraz

Leigh Taylor-Young ... Zareh

Jack Palance ... Tursen
David de Keyser ... Mukhi
Peter Jeffrey ... Hayatal
Mohammad Shamsi ... Osman Bey
George Murcell ... Mizrar

Eric Pohlmann ... Merchant in Kandahar
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ishaq Bux ... Amjad Kahn
Carlos Casaravilla ... Messenger
José Luis Chinchilla ... Head Syce
Mark Colleano
P. De Quevedo ... King
Srinanda De
Despo Diamantidou ... Uljan (as Despo)

Vernon Dobtcheff ... Zam Hajji

Saeed Jaffrey ... District Chief
Leon Lissek ... Chikana Proprietor
Ricardo Palacios ... Ghulam
Salmaan Peerzada ... Salih (as Salmaan Peer)
Milton Reid ... Aqqul
Aziz Resham ... Bacha to Ghulam
John Ruddock ... Scribe
Vida St. Romaine ... Gypsy Woman
Sy Temple ... Quadir
Jesús Tordesillas ... Little Governor
Tom Tryon
Barbara Wain ... Nurse
Alan Webb ... Gardi Gay
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
109 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The film began shooting using 65mm negative (Super Panavision), but for budgetary reasons quickly switched over to 35mm anamorphic Panavision. more
Quotes:
District Chief: What demon has possessed you to mock these good people with that piece of dog-bait? more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
25 out of 27 people found the following review useful.
'What a one-horned ram can do, a one-legged chapandaz can do better!', 23 April 2004
8/10

Set in Afghanistan, John Frankenheimer's 'The Horsemen' is the story of a tribesman determined to rival his father at horsemanship… Uraz is sent by his father Tursen to win the traditional Royal Buzkashi on the field of Bagrami in the capital city of Kabul…

Uraz on Jahil has to battle for control of a headless calf, carry it around a blue flag, and deposit it back in the 'Circle of Justice'… thus signifying that he wins the king's pennant… and remains as the master chapandaz of all Afghanistan… During the tournament, opposing horsemen use their whips to urge on their horses and to hit the rider for the chance to snatch the heavy carcass…

The motion picture turns around five well drawn characters: an angered son eaten up with vanity; a brave father who knew something worse than danger; a nomad woman whose touch defiles; a once loyal servant lusted for an 'unclean woman;' and a wager from the high passes of the East where 'men know how to forge fine weapons and use them well'…

Uraz (Omar Sharif) deliberately chose to bribe his devoted servant with the magnificent white stallion in order to increase the already terrible dangers which he hopes to conquer…

Zareh (Leigh-Taylor Young) urges her man to kill his high blood master to secure for herself his horse and his money…

Tursen (Jack Palance) know nothing but evil legends about an impossible road taken by his embittered son… His pain, remorse, and blood wept for a son lost through his fault…

Mukhi (David de Keyser) forgets his humble and faithful world in the arms of the 'untouchable' woman who pushes him to murder the great prince…

Hayatal (Peter Jeffrey) takes the challenge against 'the Prince Ram of the Valley' declaring openly to Uraz: 'What a one-horned ram can do, a one-legged chapandaz can do better!'

To understand 'The Horsemen' you must understand the rage, the beauty, and the tradition of a mountainous and landlocked country, isolated and left outside the mainstream of civilization…

Written by Academy Award winner Dalton Trumbo (The Brave One, Best Original Screenplay, 1956) 'The Horsemen' is a passionate film for men only… The film is a search that marks out the true concepts of honesty, integrity, loyalty, and trust…

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Horsemen, The (1971) sbenton78
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