| The Wild Geese | |
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Original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Andrew V. McLaglen |
| Produced by | Euan Lloyd |
| Written by | Reginald Rose |
| Starring | Richard Burton Roger Moore Richard Harris Hardy Krüger |
| Music by | Roy Budd |
| Distributed by | Rank |
| Release date(s) | 1978 |
| Running time | 134 m |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10,000,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | 681,520 USD (Sweden) |
The Wild Geese is a British 1978 film about a group of mercenaries in Africa. It stars Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Krüger. The film was the result of a long-held ambition of its producer Euan Lloyd to make an all-star adventure film similar to The Guns of Navarone or Where Eagles Dare.
The film was based on an unpublished novel titled The Thin White Line by Daniel Carney. The film was re-named The Wild Geese after a 17th-century Irish mercenary army (see Flight of the Wild Geese). Carney's novel was subsequently published under that title by Corgi Books.
The novel was based upon rumours and speculation following the 1968 landing of a mysterious aeroplane in Rhodesia, which was said to have been loaded with mercenaries and "an African President" believed to have been a dying Moise Tshombe.
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Colonel Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton), a British mercenary and former army officer, arrives in London to meet the rich and ruthless merchant banker Sir Edward Matherson (Stewart Granger). The latter proposes an operation to rescue Julius Limbani (Winston Ntshona), imprisoned former leader of a central African country, who is due to be killed by the military dictator who overthrew him. Limbani, whose people believe he is already dead, is being held in a remote prison, guarded by ferocious African troops known as the "Simbas", under General Ndofa.
Faulkner provisionally accepts the assignment and sets about recruiting his officers, all of whom have worked with him on previous African operations. They comprise:
Shawn Fynn (Roger Moore) is a former RAF pilot. He is working as a currency smuggler, but when he realises that he’s actually running drugs, he kills the mafia drug dealer by making him eat his own tainted drugs and consequently has a death contract placed on his head. Matherson forces the crime boss to lift the contract at the last moment. In the original novel this was performed by Rafer Janders.
South African Pieter Coetzee (Hardy Krüger), a former officer in the South African Army Special Forces turned mercenary, who only wants to return to his homeland and buy a farm, but can barely afford to pay his rent in London.
Rafer Janders (Richard Harris), a former military officer turned mercenary, who is a highly skilled mission planner. He initially refuses the job, as he’s making some money as an art dealer and is planning a Christmas vacation with his son, Emile. But Faulkner persuades Janders to join the mission as the tactician and planner because Janders admires President Julius Limbani.
Retired R.S.M (Regimental Sergeant Major) Sandy Young (Jack Watson), is asked by Faulkner, his former commanding officer, to serve as drill sergeant to train the troops and assist in recruitment. He is very willing, but his wife strongly disapproves.
With the tacit approval and support of the British government, the fifty soldiers are transported to an unspecified African location, equipped and mercilessly trained by Young. The day before the mission is to begin, Janders exacts a promise from Faulkner to watch over his son Emile, and take care of him should Janders die on the mission. Faulkner agrees.
The mercenaries are transported by plane and parachuted into the African country near Zembala Prison. Coetzee uses a powerful crossbow with cyanide-tipped quarrels to take out the prison sentries. The rest of the guards are killed silently with cyanide gas. They rescue Limbani, but he is clearly a sick man and is later hit by crossfire during the final battle scene. The group then makes its way to a small airfield to await pickup. But backers of the project, led by Matherson, reach an agreement with the Zembalese government concerning valuable copper concessions, and the aeroplane due to collect them is ordered to 'pass them by' at the last minute. The abandoned mercenaries are forced to fight their way through hostile territory, pursued by the Simbas.
The relationship between Limbani and Coetzee develops from initial animosity: "I bleed red like you, white man; don't call me kaffir" to one of understanding, as Coetzee comes to understand and appreciate Limbani's struggle, and realises that white and black must work together.
Fighting off armed attacks, ambushes and napalm bombing, the mercenaries separate into two groups, and make their way to Limbani's home village, where they intend to provoke a revolution. Faulkner is forced to kill his own men who are gravely injured. Coetzee observes, "we can't leave them to the Simbas." Coetzee is then killed while saving Limbani from an ambush, leaving another soldier to carry Limbani. Arthur Witty (Kenneth Griffith), the unit combat medic, is killed while trying to fend off another ambush with his submachinegun, allowing the rest of the platoon to escape. Upon arrival at the village of his birth President Limbani meets with tribal elders from the region. They want to fight but Limbani counsels that they bide their time because the local population has no firearms to fight the dictator's army. An Irish missionary named Father Geoghan alerts them to the presence of an aging transport plane, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain aka "Dakota", to provide for their escape.
As the Simba troops attack, the group starts to board the plane. RSM Young, Major Janders, and Colonel Faulkner lead a delaying action against the Simbas while Fynn gets the plane started. While in the cockpit preparing the plane for takeoff, Fynn is shot in the leg, but manages to keep the plane moving. President Limbani is wounded while being placed on board the aircraft. CSM Young is shot dead running towards the plane as he continued shooting at the Simba troops. At the last moment Janders is wounded in the leg and can’t run fast enough to jump onto the already moving plane; he implores Faulkner to shoot him as he is running down the runway with mobs of Simba troops in chase. Faulkner cannot bear to shoot his friend, but there is no hope. As Janders cries out his son's name, " Emile! Emile!", Faulkner shoots him dead just as the plane takes off.
The plane is initially refused landing permission in nearby Rhodesia, but after they provide proof that Limbani is aboard, they are given permission to land at Kariba. But by the time they land, virtually out of fuel, Limbani has died of his wounds.
Several months later, having managed to return to London, Faulkner covertly breaks into Sir Edward's mansion, holds him at gunpoint and takes all the money from the wall safe in Matherson's study. This money comes to only half of the originally agreed payment for the rescue mission. Matherson attempts to bribe Faulkner into not killing him with an offer of the rest of the money due for the mission plus more. Faulkner declines the offer and shoots Matherson several times in the stomach with a pistol equipped with a sound suppressor in revenge for the betrayal of his soldiers alive and dead. He leaves Matherson lying dead on the floor of his study and departs with the money, walking outside to meet a car driven by Fynn.
Faulkner fulfills his promise to Janders. In the closing scene, Faulkner visits Emile at his boarding school. The film closes with Faulkner and Emile walking away as Faulkner says, "Let's talk about your father." Emile smiles at Faulkner, nods in agreement and starts walking along side of Colonel Faulkner.
Principal filming took place in South Africa, with additional studio filming at Twickenham Film Studios in Middlesex. The 'rugby' scenes were filmed over a period of two days at Marble Hill Park in Twickenham with extras drafted in from nearby Teddington boys school. Marble Hill Close nearby Marble Hill Park was also filmed. The fictional country is said to lie on the border with Burundi; Rwanda and Zambia are also mentioned to be close by.
United Artists were enthusiastic about the film, but insisted Lloyd give the director's job to Michael Winner. Lloyd refused and instead chose Andrew V. McLaglen, son of Victor McLaglen, a British-born American previously known mainly for making westerns. Euan Lloyd had a friendship with John Ford who recommended McLaglen to direct the film.[1] The finance for the film was raised partly by pre-selling it to distributors based on the script and the names of the stars who were set to appear. This would later become a more common practice in the film industry, but was unusual at the time.
The music, by Roy Budd, originally included an overture and end title music, but both of these were replaced by "Flight of the Wild Geese", written and performed by Joan Armatrading. All three pieces are included on the soundtrack album, as well as the song "Dogs of War" that featured lyrics sung by the Scots Guards to Budd's themes. Budd used Borodin's String Quartet No. 2 as a theme for Rafer. The soundtrack was originally released by A&M Records then later released under licence as a Cinephile DVD.
Although Lloyd had both Richard Burton and Roger Moore in mind for their respective roles from a relatively early stage, other casting decisions were more difficult. As the mercenaries were mostly composed of military veterans (some of whom had fought under Faulkner's command before), it was necessary to cast a number of older actors and extras into these physically demanding roles. A number of veterans and actual mercenary soldiers appeared in the film.
Irish actor Stephen Boyd, a close friend of Lloyd's, was originally set to star as Sandy Young, the Sergeant Major who trains the mercenaries before their mission. However, Boyd died shortly before filming commenced and Jack Watson was chosen as a late replacement. He had previously played a similar role in McLaglen's film The Devil's Brigade (1968).
Lloyd had offered the part of the banker Matherson to his friend Joseph Cotten. However, scheduling difficulties meant that he also had to be replaced, this time by Stewart Granger. This was Granger's first film part since 1967.
Burt Lancaster originally hoped to play the part of 'Rafer Janders' who in Carney's book was an American living in London. However, Lancaster wanted the part substantially altered and enlarged. The producers declined and in his place chose Richard Harris. Lloyd initially had reservations about casting Harris because of his wild reputation and hard drinking but reluctantly agreed to cast him as long as both Harris and Burton agreed to stop drinking for this film, having them survive on nothing but soft drinks for the duration.
Hardy Krüger was not the first actor considered for the role of 'Pieter Coetzee'. Lloyd originally thought of Peter van Eyck and even Curd Jürgens, but felt that "Hardy seemed to fit." Krüger was also impressed by the script scenes played with Limbani.
Lloyd hesitated before offering the role of 'Witty' (the homosexual medic) to his longtime friend Kenneth Griffith, due to the homophobic nature of the role. When finally approached, Griffith said "Some of my dearest friends in the world are homosexuals!" and accepted the part.
Percy Herbert, who played the role of 'Keith', was a veteran of World War II, in which he had been wounded in the defence of Singapore, then captured by the Imperial Japanese Army and interned in a POW camp.
Alan Ladd's son David Ladd and Stanley Baker's son Glyn Baker also had roles in the film.
Ian Yule, who played 'Tosh Donaldson', had been a real mercenary in Africa in the 1960s and '70s.[2] He was cast locally in South Africa. He then brought his former commanding officer, Michael "Mad Mike" Hoare, who had led the actual Wild Geese mercenary troops in the Congo Crisis of the 1960s, to be the technical advisor for the film. Yule also acted as a technical advisor for the film.[3]
John Kani played 'Jesse Blake' a mercenary who had previously served with Faulkner and was struggling to live before the chance to work with Faulkner again. Palitoy based the Figure 'Tom Stone' (part of the Action Man team) on 'Jesse Blake' after looking at the Pre-Production photos and Posters of the film. Subsequently some modifications to the figure were made. Kani made his first debut role in the film after years of acting and stage performances with Winston Ntshona. Ntshona was 'Limbani' in the film and continued to make many more films with Kani after The Wild Geese.
Rosalind Lloyd, who played 'Heather', is Euan Lloyd's daughter. Her mother, actress Jane Hylton, played 'Mrs. Young'.
The film was a considerable commercial success in Britain and other countries worldwide, but was hit by the collapse of its American distributor Allied Artists, and by the lack of an American star. As a result, the film was only partially distributed in the United States, where it flopped.
The production was also the subject of controversy because of the decision to film in South Africa during the apartheid regime, and because of the film's portrayal of black characters. There were protests by anti-apartheid campaigners at the film's London premiere.
The Wild Geese was chosen as "Dog of the Year" by film critic Gene Siskel, who accused the movie of being "deadly dull" and claimed that it "exploits racism as some kind of sporting entertainment."[4]
After seven years the makers were persuaded to mount a sequel Wild Geese II, based on the novel Square Circle (later republished as Wild Geese II), also by Daniel Carney. Burton was planning to reprise his role as Colonel Allen Faulkner, but he died before filming began.[5] In the sequel, Edward Fox played Alex Faulkner (the Burton character's brother), who is hired to break Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess (played by Laurence Olivier) out of Spandau Prison so he can appear for a media interview.
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