Safari (1955 film)
| Safari | |
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British original 1956 promotional poster
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| Directed by | Terence Young |
| Produced by |
Irving Allen Albert R. Broccoli |
| Screenplay by |
Robert Buckner Anthony Veiller (story) |
| Starring |
Victor Mature Janet Leigh John Justin Roland Culver Earl Cameron |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
| Cinematography | John Wilcox |
| Edited by | Michael Gordon |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures (UK) |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English, Swahili |
| Box office | $1.4 million (US rentals) 1,764,445 admissions (France) |
Safari is a 1956 British colour film, directed by Terence Young and set during the (then contemporary) Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. Starring Victor Mature, Janet Leigh, Roland Culver, John Justin and Earl Cameron, it was intentionally cast to attract an American audience, by making both the hero and the lead female character Americans played by American actors.
While American white hunter Ken Duffield (Victor Mature) is off leading a safari, Mau Mau terrorists attack his farm, slaughtering the labourers and livestock. Duffield's young son Charlie and Aunt May (Estelle Brody) defend their home against the mass attack but they do not know that their houseboy Jeroge (a corruption of Njoroge) (Earl Cameron) is actually a Mau Mau general. Inside the farmhouse, Jeroge murders Aunt May with a machete and Charlie is killed with May's rifle.
When Duffield returns to his destroyed homestead, the police have obtained information about Jeroge's role in the affair. Surmising that Duffield will use his hunting expertise to track down and revenge himself on the terrorists in general and Jeroge in particular, they escort him back to Nairobi and revoke his hunting licence until the situation and Duffield cools down.
Duffield spends his exile in Nairobi drinking and gathering information about Jeroge from his African friends. He gets his chance for revenge when the rich Sir Vincent Brampton (Roland Culver), accompanied by his flunky Brian (John Justin) and his young American trophy fiancée Linda (Janet Leigh), arrive in Nairobi. They are keen to hire Duffield to lead a safari so that Sir Vincent can kill a legendary man-eating lion named "Hatari" (Swahili for "risky" or "dangerous"). Duffield knows that Hatari resides in an area which Jeroge is known to frequent, and that Sir Vincent can use his influence to get his hunting licence back.
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Wikipedia