Slim Harris Movies
- 1956
This tense, uncompromising African actioner affords Victor Mature one of his best screen roles. When his family is wiped out by Mau Mau insurrectionists, white hunter Mature assembles an expedition to track down the tribal leader responsible for the massacre. The British authorities don't want Mature to foment further difficulty by seeking revenge, so they revoke his hunting license. Still, he manages to embark upon his justice-seeking safari by hiring himself out as a guide for millionaire lion hunter Roland Culver and Culver's fiancee Janet Leigh. The grimness of the proceedings is occasionally leavened by an incongruously upbeat musical score. Safari was photographed on location by Ted Moore and directed by Terence Young, who'd later collaborate on the James Bond epic Thunderball (1965). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Janet Leigh, (more)
- 1955
The recent Mau Mau uprising in Kenya served as story material for the 1955 British film Simba. White farmer Dirk Bogarde and his neighbors are targeted for extermination by the zealously nationalistic Mau Maus. Native doctor Joseph Tomelty, whose brother had earlier been killed under questionable circumstances, endeavors to help the whites escape the hordes, only to discover that his own father is the local leader of the insurrectionists. Given the cruelties of colonial rule in Africa, it is hard for any film to make the Mau Mau total villains, despite their own well-documented brutal treatment of their enemies. Simba downplays side-taking and ideology, choosing instead to concentrate on the adventure and suspense elements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Virginia McKenna, (more)
- 1949
Diamond City is a British "western", set not in Australia as was often the case but in the wilds of South Africa. David Farrar is a lawkeeper sworn to lawkeep in the diamond mines. The poachers thereabouts try their luck at circumventing Farrar, but he's too fast for them. The final shootout isn't quite the Gunfight at the OK Corral, but it will serve until English history offers a real counterpart to that famous western battle. David Farrar's leading lady in Diamond City is future Avengers star Honor Blackman, who in 1949 was still in her blushing-heroine phase. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Farrar, Honor Blackman, (more)
