Rhodes of Africa (1936) DVD-R

Starring Walter Huston, Oskar Homolka, Basil Sydney, Frank Cellier, Peggy
Ashcroft
Directed by Berthold Viertel

Print: black/white
Runtime: 90 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

African-American students who have accepted Rhodes scholarships may
feel like wincing at Rhodes of Africa, an unabashed celebration of British
imperialism. Walter Huston portrays Cecil Rhodes, the 19th century
explorer who dreamed of "taming" the rugged African terrain.
Establishing the colony of Rhodesia, the film's "hero" opens up the rest
of the continent for the benefit of Mother England and its industrial elite.
Increasing friction between Rhodes and Dutch prime minister Kruger
(Oscar Homolka) results in the Boer War, treated herein as a noble British
victory (Three years later, Kruger would be the hero of the
Nazi-sanctioned Ohm Kruger, which was twice as tastelessly chauvinistic
as Rhodes of Africa). Undeniably stirring and impressive, Rhodes of Africa
nonetheless treats the subjugation of Africa as something pure and
wonderful.