AKA: King of Africa
Director: Giovanni Scolaro
Writers: Jack DeWitt, Sandy Howard, Eduardo Manzanos, Mario Siciliano
Composer: Gianni Marchetti
Starring: Ty Hardin, Pier Angeli, Rossano Brazzi, George Sanders, Helga Line, Dale Cummings, George Rigaud, Julio Pena, Charles Fawcett
More info: IMDb
Tagline: Hide and seek and kill in the jungles of Africa!
Plot: A British colonial policeman in Africa, circa 1900, pursues a band of escaped killers across territory so wild, it lies just "one step to hell."
My rating: 5.5/10
Will I watch it again? No.
This Italian/Spanish co-production action adventure doesn't have much to offer besides a few good looking locations but those were marred by the lousy fullscreen VHS copy I watched. You can't really appreciate scenery much under those conditions. George Sanders is in it for a little bit but his few scenes take place in one room and it looks like he might've spent a day or two on the set. Fans of his won't get anything out of him; he's just there to bring some gravitas to the production. Now Ty Hardin (who only died a few months ago at age 87) put in a bland performance that brings the picture down. Also adding to the blandness is the run of the mill, this could've almost been directed by anyone, direction by Scolaro. I wasn't surprised to see that he only directed one flick (but he was the assistant director on seven others). Then there's the bland score (and sometimes inappropriate) by Marchetti. I don't recognize any of his credits (which doesn't mean much of anything). I can't recommend this for any reason other than George Sanders completists and the president of the Ty Hardin Fan Club. There sure are a lot of neat movie posters for it, though.
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