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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
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Watched this recently, which had Sean Connery as Alan Quartermain (Rider Haggard's character ?)

Didn't like the film much, but did feel Connery would have played Haggard's friend Col. Durnford in 'Zulu Dawn' better than Burt Lancaster, even at the age he is in this film.

However, I've always felt he would have been great in the role, after his performances in 'A Bridge Too Far' and 'The Man Who Would Be King'.

Even with his very strong accent, he might have 'carried' the role better, giving Durnford a more stronger presence in the scenes.

But that's just my opinion.

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Dawn


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And you're entitled to your opinion, of course, Coll. But I'm sure there's a lot who'd agree that there are actors who could have played the role better than Burt Lancaster. Not that I have anything against Burt. Besides, I don't think poor Burt had a decent script to work with in the first place. Smile

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John Young


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Good to see you back, by-the-way, if only for a while.

Connery, could not play Durnford at Isandlwana, he'd have to play Quatermain (the correct spelling) at Isandlwana, or didn't you know Quatermain was with Durnford at Isandlwana?

Here's his description of him from Finished:
'All this while Colonel Durnford had been behaving as a British officer should do. Scorning to attempt flight, whenever I looked round I caught sight of his tall form, easy to recognize by the long fair moustaches and his arm in a sling, moving to and fro encouraging us to stand firm and die like men. Then suddenly I saw a Kaffir, who carried a big old smooth-bore gun, aim at him from a distance of about twenty yards, and fire. He went down, as I believe dead, and that was the end of a very gallant officer and gentleman whose military memory has in my opinion been most unjustly attacked. The real blame for tht disaster dos not rest upon the shoulders of either Colonel Durnford or Colonel Pulleine.'

H. Rider-Haggard 1917


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Thanks John

You're right - a dilemma indeed Confused

Could he not portray both men ?

Mind you, they couldn't be in the same scene together, people might realise it's the same actor Wink

I'm thinking though, as an 'introduced' character to the events at Isandlwana for a new film, Quatermain would be an excellent choice, his name mentioned in a previous topic in the old forum.

This way the connections between Col. Durnford, Isandlwana, H. Rider Haggard and Quatermain can be maintained.

I'd have to read up on Haggard's Quatermain books.

However, I wonder about copyright issues ?

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John Young


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I was recently involved in a documentary on Haggard, which unbeknown to me was transmitted over the holiday period on BBC 4, it is entitled Adventure for Boys: the Lost Worlds of Rider Haggard. It should be worth looking out for when it goes mainstream, if only for the appearance of Prince Shange, as one of the interviewees.

Most of Haggard's books are available online as e-books, so if you can just do a search on him.

Regards,

John
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John

I'll certainly watch out for the documentary, as well as Haggard's books.

Interestingly, under the title 'Allan Quatermain' in Wikipedia, which includes a film still of Connery, there is a detailed description of Quatermain and what his thoughts were of Africa and the people.

Although just a summary of the character, I can't help but feel, that if Quatermain had been a 'real' person, both he and Durnford would have had a lot to talk about with each other, perhaps agreeing on many aspects.

However, having not studied the character in-depth, I may be entirely wrong.

Apparently, Haggard based Quatermain on individuals around at the time, but I wonder if he included some of Durnford's views, even slightly, in the character's personality ?

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John Young


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Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Selous and you'll find Haggard's inspiration for Quatermain, I note that they managed to spell the surname incorrectly though Alan's that is.

In 1930's version of King's Solomon's Mines Cedric Hardwicke plays Alan, and bears more than a passing likeness to Selous. If you check Stephen Coan's article in the Natal Witness, there's some information about the filming out there.

John
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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
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