British cinematographer Jack Cardiff had an extremely distinguished career working with the like of Powell & Pressburger, Hitchcock and John Huston. As a director he received acclaim for Intent to Kill (1958), Web of Evidence (1959) and Sons and Lovers (1960). However his 1968 adaptation of Wilbur Smith's novel Dark of the Sun (also known as Mercenaries) is often overlooked. In some respects this gritty action movie may have been a little before its time with regard to both its politics and depiction of the Simba Rebellion of 1964-65. It still packs a punch forty eight years later.