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The Adventurers
The Adventurers
	Original British 1-sheet poster
Directed by	David MacDonald
Written by	Robert Westerby
Based on	story by Westerby
Produced by	Aubrey Baring; Maxwell Setton (uncredited);
Starring	Dennis Price; Jack Hawkins; Siobhan McKenna;
Cinematography	Oswald Morris
Edited by	Vladimir Sagovsky
Music by	Cedric Thorpe Davie
Production; company	Mayflower Pictures
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release date	7 March 1951 (London);
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

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.

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

Dennis Price as Clive Hunter
Jack Hawkins as Pieter Brandt
Peter Hammond as Hendrik van Thaal
Grégoire Aslan as Dominic
Charles Paton as Barman
Siobhan McKenna as Anne Hunter
Bernard Lee as O'Connell
Ronald Adam as Van Thaal
Martin Boddey as Chief Engineer
Philip Ray as Man in Restaurant
Walter Horsbrugh as Man in Restaurant
Cyril Chamberlain as Waiter

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]

References

^ "The Adventurers". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
^ Carry On, Cowboy: Roast Beef Westerns Hall, Sheldon. Iluminace; Praha Vol. 24, Iss. 3, (2012): 103-125.
^ Vagg, Stephen (17 May 2020). "Roast Beef Westerns". Filmink.
^ Round the British Studios Nepean, Edith. Picture Show; London Vol. 55, Iss. 1433, (Sep 16, 1950): 7.
^ "British Star, Back Home, Gets Candid". Truth. No. 3145. New South Wales, Australia. 7 May 1950. p. 44. Retrieved 1 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Germans to see Australian film". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 19 May 1951. p. 11 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b Tony Sloman. "The Adventurers". RadioTimes.
^ "Fortune in Diamonds (1951) – Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast – AllMovie". AllMovie.
^ "The Adventurers". TV Guide.