Forty Thousand Horsemen

Forty Thousand Horsemen
Directed by	Charles Chauvel
Produced by	Charles Chauvel
Written by	Charles Chauvel Elsa Chauvel E. V. Timms
Starring	Pat Twohill Grant Taylor Chips Rafferty
Music by	Lindley Evans
Cinematography	George Heath Frank Hurley John Heyer
Editing by	William Shepherd
Release date(s)	26 December 1940 (Australia) 14 August 1941 (USA)
Running time	100 min.
Country	Australia
Language	English

Forty Thousand Horsemen (aka. 40,000 Horsemen) is a 1940 Australian war film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film tells the story of the Australian Light Horse cavalry which operated in the desert at the Sinai and Palestine Campaign during World War I. It follows the adventures of three rowdy heroes in fighting and romance. The film culminates at the Battle of Beersheba what is reputedly "the last successful cavalry charge in history". The film was clearly a propaganda weapon, to aid in recruitment and lift the pride of Australians at home during WWII.

Filming commenced in 1938 on the Cronulla sand dunes, south of Sydney, with interiors shot in the Cinesound studios at Bondi.

Cast

• Grant Taylor as Red Gallagher
• Pat Twohill as Larry
• Chips Rafferty as Jim
• Eric Reiman as Von Schiller
• Harvey Adams as Von Hausen
• Betty Bryant as Juliet Rouget
• Joe Valli as Scotty
• Albert C. Winn as Sheik Abu

References

• Murray, Scott; (ed.) (1994). Australian Cinema. St.Leonards, NSW.: Allen & Unwin/AFC. pp. 26–28. ISBN 1863733116.
• Forty Thousand Horsemen at the NFSA
• Forty Thousand Horsemen at the Australian screen