★ 6 / 10
On a safari, blow your horn... Must stay
CinemaSerf
'On a safari, blow your horn... Must stay alert from dusk til dawn...' It's actually quite apt that I'm watching this now just as the King returns from Kenya…
'On a safari, blow your horn... Must stay alert from dusk til dawn...' It's actually quite apt that I'm watching this now just as the King returns from Kenya where apologies for the colonial treatment of the Mau Mau were top of the reconciliation agenda. In this jungle adventure, it's Victor Mature's "Duffield" who is out to avenge a murderous attack by these self same freedom fighters on his family. The authorities want him out of the way, but the influential "Sir Vincent" (Roland Culver) arrives on the scene bent on killing a legendary lion and so arranges for "Duffield" to be his guide. The latter man sees a chance for retribution and is also intrigued by "Linda" (Janet Leigh) who is engaged to the trip's patron. As he's a bit of a pompous bully, nobody is quite sure why. Anyway, the adventures ensue with snakes, crocodiles, lions and some good old human treachery before an ending that delivers just desserts all round. It's of it's day this, so some of the language and imagery might offend, as might Mature's really rather wooden acting but if you are a fan of the boy's own style of action movie then this isn't the worst. Might have been more fun if the man and the rhino went head to head without one having the benefit of a gun!
Read full review
★ 7 / 10
great white hunter (victor mature) vs. the mau-maus
dougbrode
"In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps tonight." That was a rock 'n' roll hit in the late 1950s. Where did an American recording group get the idea…
"In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps tonight." That was a rock 'n' roll hit in the late 1950s. Where did an American recording group get the idea to do such a single? From this movie, in which the African characters, while marching on safari, sing it - an authentic African folk song that easily translated to a rhythm 'n' blues beat. Here is a fine example of what they used to call a 'program picture' - not a B movie in the early-indie junk-movie sense, or an A studio production either. Just before TV ruled, the major studios used to make minor films (though not B movies, mind you - something beyond that but below a B feature) and called them programmers. That way, they could make use of the actors, writers, directors, etc. who were on a regular payroll, a concept that would die early during the next decade. After all, if you were going to pay all of those people a weekly salary, might as well knock out modest movies that, when you think about it, cost them little but the price of raw film stock. They could be marketed on double bills, then sent over to the Drive-Ins, and finally put into a package that went to local TV channels in those days before the networks got hooked on full-length films (fall of 61). So here were Victor Mature and Janet Leigh as an older man and younger woman who find themselves together on a safari that her father arranges. Mature has ulterior motives - his family was destroyed in a mau-mau attacks some years earlier and he wants revenge, thinking this may be the way to get it. The mau-mau attacks are very well staged by Terence Young, who would go on to do several Bond films. Crisp color and a strong soundtrack qualify this as precisely what it was meant to be - far from a memorable movie, but a time killer that doesn't leave you feeling that you've wasted you're time when it's over.
Read full review
80%
AUDIENCE
5.7/10
787
