Taking a look at IMDb's page for British movies from 1954,I was shocked to discover that the year featured one of the few sequels that Ealing studios ever made,which led to me excitingly getting ready to go west of Ealing.
The plot:
Suffering from a terrible drought,an African tribe called the Galana decide to move to Mombasa.With there being little money around,some of the Galana decide to work for an underground gangster,by killing the local elephants,and taking their Ivory.Catching some of the Galana in their latest Ivory hunt,games warden (and friend of the Galana tribe) Bob Payton gets set to take them to the police.Talking to the tribal leader,Payton discovers that the young Galana's are working for a major gangster,which leads to Payton deciding that he will not take the Galana's in,and instead go after the big game.
View on the film:
For this sequel from Ealing Studios,the screenplay by co-writer/ (along with Jack Whittingham and Max Catto) director Harry Watt features a rather peculiar contradiction,with the writers focusing on the daily routine of the Galana tribe on their own, (in un- subtitled scenes) but using Bob Payton (played by a good,stiff upper lip Anthony Steel)to show that only an "outsider" is able to handle serious matters during the regions colonialist era.Whilst the film at first appears to be set up for a wild adventure,the writers never allow the potential edge of the seat action in Payton's mission to set off,which leads to the title feeling incredibly dry.
Despite the use of stock footage and some poor back projection dampening things a bit,director Harry Watt shows a real eye for sweeping wide shots which allow for the natural beauty of the location to shine as the main star feature of the film,as Ealing Studios heads to the west of Zanzibar.
The plot:
Suffering from a terrible drought,an African tribe called the Galana decide to move to Mombasa.With there being little money around,some of the Galana decide to work for an underground gangster,by killing the local elephants,and taking their Ivory.Catching some of the Galana in their latest Ivory hunt,games warden (and friend of the Galana tribe) Bob Payton gets set to take them to the police.Talking to the tribal leader,Payton discovers that the young Galana's are working for a major gangster,which leads to Payton deciding that he will not take the Galana's in,and instead go after the big game.
View on the film:
For this sequel from Ealing Studios,the screenplay by co-writer/ (along with Jack Whittingham and Max Catto) director Harry Watt features a rather peculiar contradiction,with the writers focusing on the daily routine of the Galana tribe on their own, (in un- subtitled scenes) but using Bob Payton (played by a good,stiff upper lip Anthony Steel)to show that only an "outsider" is able to handle serious matters during the regions colonialist era.Whilst the film at first appears to be set up for a wild adventure,the writers never allow the potential edge of the seat action in Payton's mission to set off,which leads to the title feeling incredibly dry.
Despite the use of stock footage and some poor back projection dampening things a bit,director Harry Watt shows a real eye for sweeping wide shots which allow for the natural beauty of the location to shine as the main star feature of the film,as Ealing Studios heads to the west of Zanzibar.