The Wilby Conspiracy

"In the fight for freedom, you have to break all the rules."

1975 1h 45m EN

😐

6.3

MID

🍅

71%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.4

IMDB

★6.3TMDB · 50🍅71%Rotten Tomatoes●57Metacritic★6.4IMDB · 2,332

AdventureThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Having spent 10 years in prison for nationalist activities, Shack Twala is finally ordered released by the South African Supreme Court but he finds himself almost immediately on the run after a run-in with the police. Assisted by his lawyer Rina Van Niekirk and visiting British engineer Jim Keogh, he heads for Capetown where he hopes to recover a stash of diamonds, meant to finance revolutionary activities, that he had entrusted to a dentist before his incarceration. Along the way, they are followed by Major Horn of the South African State security bureau and it becomes apparent that he has no intention of arresting them until they reach their final destination

“In the fight for freedom, you have to break all the rules.”

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Cast

Sidney Poitier
Shack Twala
Michael Caine
Jim Keogh
Nicol Williamson
Major Horn
Prunella Gee
Rina Van Niekirk
Saeed Jaffrey
Anil Mukerjee
Persis Khambatta
Persis Ray
Rijk de Gooyer
Van Heerden
Rutger Hauer
Blane Van Niekirk

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ralph Nelson
Writers: Harold Nebenzal, Rod Amateau
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

51 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ralph Nelson, shot by John Coquillon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Stanley Myers. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ernest Walter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine and Nicol Williamson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In the fight for freedom, you have to break all the rules.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0073901 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 50 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ralph Nelson directs. John Coquillon behind the camera. Stanley Myers scores. Ernest Walter cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

151 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Ralph Nelson, shot by John Coquillon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Stanley Myers. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Ernest Walter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine and Nicol Williamson carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "In the fight for freedom, you have to break all the rules.".
7IMDB entry: tt0073901 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 50 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Coquillon
Original score: Stanley Myers
Editing: Ernest Walter
Production design: Harry Pottle
Makeup / hair: Betty Glasow
Sound: John Hayward
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
Rotten Tomatoes: 71% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 57/100
IMDB rating: 6.4/10 · 2,332 votes
MPAA: PG

Also by

Ralph Nelson

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2025-06-04
★ 7/10
A black man and white man on the run in South Africa After a mishap with authorities, an anti-Apartheid activist (Sidney Poitier) and a British engineer (Michael Caine) are forced to flee together from Cape Town to Johannesburg and possible escape into Botswana. Shot in early 1974 and released the next year, “The Wilby Conspiracy” was helmed by the director of “Soldier Blue” from five years earlier, who’s known for ‘hip’ Lib messages mixed with chunks of exploitation, whether violence or sex. Serious issues are meshed with flip banter and deadly action. The depiction of the Apartheid police state is overdone in the manner of a comic book. Still, both sides of the debate are clearly presented. For instance, Major Horn (Nicol Williamson) points out that the 3 million Caucasians built the cities, towns, infrastructure, factories, mines and farms of South Africa and shouldn’t be told what to do by the 18 million blacks “20 years out of the trees,” as he puts it. Apartheid has been gone for over three decades at this point and how are things working out? Consider the now-legal land seizures of white farms and removal or murder of the minority people. You could say that, whether the Apartheid era or the present day, we live in a messed-up, unjust world. In any case, the political and racial complications are interesting and the happenings entertaining for the most part with an action-packed climax. Prunella Gee and Persis Khambatta are on hand in the feminine department; you might remember the latter as the ‘Iliadroid’ in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” four years later. Unfortunately, her career never really took off despite the potential. It runs 1 hour, 45 minutes, and was shot in Kenya and Pinewood Studios, which is just west of London, along with establishing shots of Cape Town and so forth in South Africa. GRADE: B-/B

Production companies