Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Rlipt8 Always enjoyed Victor Mature movies and he was great as usual.I will never understand why with all the expense of making a movie they very rarely get even close to the firearm reality of what is necessary.None of the big bore rifles even sounded close to being real. As in later movies like Anaconda they show bolt action rifles being fired repeatedly without the shooter cycling the weapon, reloading with the bolt action being used etc. There is poor sound and absolutely no recoil even being feigned. It is as if they are shooting Daisy air rifles.When Victor Mature asks for his 900 grain bullets for his big bore express rifle, that was good as they used Holland AND Holland .500 and .600 nitro Express rifles back then, with side by side rifled barrels.Yet when he shot it, there again was no recoil. All that expensive footage shot yet they show a river scene with a sound stage movie screen behind them, why use that at all? The dead lion dummy, drugged starving circus lion whatever they used looked to be hundreds of pounds lighter than a 500lb plus Atari.Still very enjoyable movie.

rogerblake-281-718819 A controversial film when first released in 1956 for using the Mau Mau uprising as a background for a Victor Mature adventure.Fifty six years later with the gift of hindsight the film can be viewed from a modern perspective.The Mau Mau,once considered terrorists,are now seen as freedom fighters.The truth is somewhere in the middle.Atrocities were committed by both sides.In disputes like this it is always the innocent who suffer.While Safari condemns the Mau Mau as cold blooded killers, in a slightly condescending way it emphasizes that most Kenyans are decent loyal citizens.The film should be viewed as a product of its time with the attitudes and sensibilities of the period.What is more controversial today is its glorification of big game hunting. Victor Mature plays big game hunter Ken Duffield who comes back from a safari to find that his family,including his son,have been massacred by the Mau Mau led by one of his house servants,a very harrowing scene.For his own safety his big game licence is revoked.Sitting in a bar in Nairobi drowning his sorrows he is approached by millionaire aristocrat Sir Vincent Brampton (Ronald Culver) who is accompanied by his dogsbody Brian Sinden (John Justin).Sir Vincent is obsessed with shooting a man eating lion called Hatari.He is an obnoxious money will buy anything type who gets Duffield's licence restored so he can lead the expedition. Duffield sees it as an opportunity to get his revenge on the Mau Mau.Also going along for the ride is Brampton's "fiance" Linda Latham,played by the delectable Janet Leigh. It is a long journey in which Duffield finds peace of mind and justice not vengeance is served.The successful outcome is due in no small part to the young native lad Adongo played by Juma, and the head boy Jerusalem played by Orlando Martins,a cheerful trumpet playing character,just the sort of bloke you want by your side in a fight. Victor Mature once stated that he was no actor and he had over seventy films to prove it.Come on Vic, in adventure and biblical films you had a certain monolythic grandeur and unlike Charlton Heston you never took yourself too seriously. Ronald Culver and John Justin are British thespians of the old school who have a look of slight bewilderment wondering what they are doing in this film but they are professionals and certainly don't let the side down. Juma and Orlando Martins are also a big asset and talking about big assets Janet Leigh is unbelievably glamorous,her wardrobe is certainly eye catching.Talk about the "Perils of Pauline",whatever her predicament she never looks less than immaculate.She takes the obligatory swim in the river,all in the best possible taste,and her bath scene would raise a few eyebrows.Never less than cheerful she is no shrinking violet always ready to roll her sleeves up and get on with it. A word of praise for Hatari the lion for the best performance in the film.He may have finished up in trophy cabinet but he gets his ten cents worth in first.He certainly makes Sir Vincent wish he had stayed at home. All filmed in glorious technicolor and on location the scenery and wildlife on view is a definite plus.Directed by Terence Young who knows his stuff it compares well with films such as "King Solomon's Mines" and "Mogambo".It is definitely superior to "Beyond Mombasa" which roughly deals with the same subject except the Mau Mau are called Leopard Men.It starred Cornel Wilde who ten years later made probably the greatest African adventure film of all "The Naked Prey".Considering the risqué scenes with Janet Leigh and the harrowing and explicit violence the Censors gave it a "U" certificate,surprisingly "The Naked Prey" got an "A" certificate,today they would be lucky to get a "12" rating. As a last thought John Justin played a character called Brian Sinden,in "Mogambo" Donald Sinden played a similar character.Possibly an "in" joke?

sol ***SPOILERS*** While out in the African savanna gunning down rouge bull elephants great white hunter Ken Dufield, Victor Mature, gets the terrible news that his house or homestead outside of Nairobi and been attacked and burned down by a gang of Mau Mau's with his 12 year old son Kenny Jr, Chris Warbey,and the house help brutally murdered by the marauding terrorist gang. It just happened that Dufield was hired by big time British explorer and blue blood Sir Vincent Brampton, Roland Culver, to track this giant 550 pound man eating lion Atari who's been dining on the local native population! With the news that the Dufield household's trusting and faithful houseboy the 35 year old Jeroge,Earl Cameron, was an undercover Mau Mau general and was responsible for the carnage at the Dufield house and the death of little Kenny Big Ken Dufield is more interested in hunting Jeroge down and killing him then the man eating lion Atari that Sir Vincent hired him to kill!Walking a tightrope in trying to track down both Arati and Jeorge deep in Mau Mau country things get a bit more complicated for Dufield in that Sir Vincent brought his fiancée former showgirl Linda Latham, Janet Leigh, along for the ride! Being obligated to track down and shoot Atari Dufield at first sets his sights on the man eater before on General Jeroge. It was Sir Vincent who pulled strings to get Dufield's hunting license back which was by then lifted by the colonial government. That's when it was deemed, in starting up with the local Mau Mau's in trying to kill General Jeorge, that Dufield was a danger to the community. It's in fact Sir Vincent, in jumping or shooting off his gun, who makes thing far far worse by wounding the big cat and making him far more dangerous then he already was. As for Linda she had plans of her own in seeing the sights and almost getting herself killed in the process. That's when rowing in the dangerous African waters on a rubber dingy she got caught in a riptide that almost had her killed either by drowning or being eating by a bunch of hungry crocodiles! That's until Dufield came to her rescue shooting down, as well as getting his pants wet, the swarming crocks as they were about to close in on her.***SPOILERS*** It's after the man eater Atari is finally put away with a bullet, courtesy of Ken Dufield, between the eyes that it's reported that a major Mau Mau attack lead by General Jeroge has taken place when 200 interned Mau Mau's had broken out of a British detention camp outside of Nairobi. That finally gave Dufield the chance he's been itching for to get a shot at General Jeroge for murdering his son Kenny and the help at the Dufield house. Cowboy and Indian like ending with General or Chief Jeroge and his men, in the part of the Indians, getting by far the worst of it. With the calvary, in the person of the colonial troops, coming to the rescue in just the nick of time to save Dufield and whatever was still left, which included Linda, of his by now almost non existent safari.

blitzebill a typical 1950s movie about the great white man conquering Africa and ignorant of the consequences.from bullets murdering elephants to ones viciously killing a child, you better be prepared for a film that lacks any sense of propriety and realism and fairness.sure there's revenge to take care of for that murdered child, but of course there's no understanding for the "natives" either.I see people all the time on this site complaining about "dated" films. Most of these complaints are silly and unfounded.But this safari stinks, and still does.