Trader Horn

As it turned out, 1973 was destined to be a transitional year for Rod Taylor. Somewhat deceptively, it began on a comparatively high note in February when he opened in "The Train Robbers" , a lightweight but pleasant Western for Warner Bros. Co-starring opposite John Wayne and Ann-Margaret, it was Taylor's last hurrah as far as box office success was concerned. With his next release, the golden apple which he had been carrying on his journey through Movie Land for two decades suddenly turned into a lemon.

The trouble began in June when he bobbed up in Metro's "Trader Horn", an ill-considered remake of the 1931 Harry Carey picture. As the famed explorer of darkest Africa, Taylor had to lead a safari of day workers from Central Casting through an obstacle course of every conceivable B- movie cliché. There were rampaging natives, tangled vines, quick- sand and assorted wildlife - all of which materialized via a disconcerting gaggle of all-too-obvious stock footage and back projection. It looked liked the former life saver from Sydney had accidentally walked in front of a home movie screen while his brother-in-law was running a bad 1940s travel documentary. All that was missing was a cup of coffee and a piece of cake. It was the beginning of the end for Taylor as far as his big career was concerned

It's 1916 British West Africa. Trader Horn (Rod Taylor) guides pathetic white hunters on their safari and a native guide is killed. The British authority forcefully recruits him to be a guide for the troupes. He escapes from them to join an expedition to find a platinum mine while trying to avoid both the Germans and the English.

There is an actual Trader Horn who wrote a book about his adventures. Of course, there is no expectation of reality in this movie and I'm surprised that it's not overtly bad. The British don't come off looking that good. It does use stock footage of real animal killings, most notably shooting the elephant, which would be very off-putting for modern audiences. The use of real killings is unethical but works cinematically. Let's be clear. This is strictly a B-movie with its reliance on stock footage and its obvious lower budget production. The acting led by Taylor is fair. The story is simple but effective. This is fine unless the stock footage really offends. I'm not going to deduct for that but you may.

Other than the title, there is absolutely no resemblance between the 1930 film MGM had so much trouble bringing in and this one which is your basic pulp adventure film. Rod Taylor costumed for the part is your basic great white hunter who with wartime has suddenly had a demand for his services.

The British want him as a guide to go into German colonies in West Africa, but Taylor gets a much better offer from Jean Sorel and Anne Heywood who want to find a platinum mine. So off they go.

They do encounter Germans and they are typical villainous Germans. They also encounter all kinds of hazards you find in any jungle picture. And of course there is the inevitable love triangle.

Elements of both The African Queen and King Solomon's Mines are found in this Trader Horn. But not a smidgen of the original.

The film opens with scenes of an elephant herd agitated by human presence. One of the adult elephants moves towards the perceived threat. What follows is actual footage of an elephant being shot and the subsequent stress it causes the family pod. This could have been implied or done without having to witness such a senseless and vile act. I stopped watching at that point. I just did not need to see that.

I couldn't even watch more than a half hour of it because it glorifies killing magnificent and endangered species like leopards and elephants. Rod Taylor could play sophisticates, rough guys, idealists, military types, anything but a song and dance man really. He was fine in comedy opposite Doris Day in THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT for example. But here, he is a rugged, jaded antihero in a below average script (what I could stay long enough for anyway) with a dated theme or two: killing wild animals and profiting from selling to Germans in World War One. Danger in Africa it seemed would be the running motif....been done before and since. Rod Taylor should have stayed a movie star, movies like this may indeed explain why he later took smaller parts and often was seen on TV instead. Even after a half hour, I could tell this was not special.