The Movie
I finally saw this. It was one of those things where someone recorded a television broadcast, clipped out the commercials and uploaded it to YouTube. Video and audio quality were "good enough" but only because I couldn't find it on a streaming service that I use.
My expectations were low but I thought it was pretty decent. Robert Mitchum is a kind of medicine-show grifter working his way through the old British East Africa (now Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zanzibar). He's literally expelled from one village by being thrown, along with his camper-caravan, into a river. He's fished out downstream in another village and patched up by the local missionaries. Meanwhile, this new village is about to be forceably relocated to another area as this location will soon be underwater due to a new dam that's ready to operate.
Without giving too much away, the villiagers, and in particular the village chief, take a liking to Mitchum and decide that they will willing relocate on the condition that Mitchum leads them overland to their new home. This is quite a trek. Due to the fact that they found him in the river, and for other reasons, they see him as a modern day Moses who will lead them in Exodus to the Promised Land.
It's not a classic but I thought it was entertaining enough. Mitchum has that laid back tough-guy charm working. Carroll Baker is the missionary's daughter who is both pretty and smart. The black Africans are portrayed with respect and dignity. I am not sure why this film doesn't seem to run on US television. |
