Trader Horn, l'aventurier

I spotted Stewart Granger and Co, from "King Solomon Mines numerous times during this "movie".It was so obvious .I notice grasslands and rolling Los Angeles hills in background of this show.They the actors never went within 12 ,000 miles of Africa. A travesty of the original movie from 1931.MGM should hang its head in shame.Start of Rod Taylor's downfall in movies.

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.

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.

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.

This was just a waste. Remember catching a blooper. This was suppose to be in Late 1800s early 1900s but in one scene there was a 60something Chevy Impala you could see drive by just behind some trees and shrubs. Think there was another with jet con trails in it. Acting was so-so directing was bad and the story was just OK. They should have not made it if they could not do it right. The 1931 version was better. I was with family and they did not believe me when I told them about the car. So we sat through it again until that scene to prove I was right and they did see it. Hated watching it again but I was determined to show them I was right. Wish we had not wasted our money on it. Was brutal sitting through it to prove my point.