Maldita Aventura

Cannot believe I watched the whole thing. I must have done it out of admiration for its director, Phil Karlson, who, at his best, helmed some great fifties noir like "Brothers Rico" and "Kansas City Confidential" and, at his worst, churned out crapola like this.

Nothing works. Neither the Mitchum/Martinelli pairing nor the cut rate safari movie, featuring a scenery chewing Jack Hawkins, that occupies the first three fourths. And the last fourth, with a magenta hued leopard loose in a German city, has to be the feeblest attempt at a disaster flic, well, ever. (The only victim is some schlubby janitor.) Throw in a banal screenplay with tiresome exchanges regarding loss of virility and killing animals versus trapping them and one of Elmer Bernstein's lesser scores (basically repetitions the title theme) and you can see why this thing teeters on the edge of awful. Give it a generous C minus 'cause Hawaii does a good job as Malaysia's stunt double and it was Sabu's penultimate film (the guy died way too young) and his sad smile is the only affecting thing in it. C minus.

The Wilhelm Zoo in West Germany hires big game hunter Otto Abbot (Jack Hawkins) and trapper Harry Stanton (Robert Mitchum) to travel to Malaysia to bring back two tigers and an "enchantress" (half-breed creature: part-leopard, part-tiger). Abbot's house is filled with wild animal artifacts (head trophies, rugs, animal skins). Harry wants no part of animal killing. Abbot's mistress is the statuesque and lovely Anna (Elsa Martinelli), whom he rescued when she was 14 years-old. She is a crack shot and will be along for the expedition. The jungle guide is Sabu ("The Jungle Book," 1942).

Early on the tone for the movie is set at a dinner club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when the confident Abbot suddenly asks Harry if he'll try to take Anna away from him. Harry responds, "You drag it out pretty flat on a table, but as long as you did . . . Yes, I'm gonna try." Anna darts those tantalizing dark eyes; she has subjugated her life to Abbot.

In the jungle the expedition captures two tigers with the help of the local Sakai people, who beat their drums to drive out the tigers from hiding. But as Abbot uses his rifle once, the Sakai chief says that the beaters will no longer help (they are against big game hunters). But there is still one more animal to capture, and the film is not even half over at that point. So there is time for plenty of tension. Although Anna has rebuffed Harry early on, they develop a bond that makes Abbot jealous. Eventually an enchantress is captured after hard work. But on the train to Germany Abbot releases it to attack Stanton, and it soon escapes the train: Abbot is not caring about the damage it will do or the people it will kill. In due course, the climax occurs on a building rooftop with all principals involved.

The acting is fine, and Robert Mitchum has always had a strong screen presence. He reminds one of the legendary real-life trapper, Frank Buck of the earlier 20th century ("Bring 'Em Back Alive," 1930). The underrated Elsa Martinelli is appropriately gorgeous, slender, and sensual. She had a fairly similar role in a comparable but superior film with John Wayne as the love interest ("Hatari," 1962). The photography is fine: "Rampage" was filmed in Hawaii. On the negative side the screenplay could have been better, and the enchantress was rather small and somewhat disappointing. Nevertheless, the movie is still worth a look.

British big game hunter Otto Abbot (Jack Hawkins) and American trapper Harry Stanton (Robert Mitchum) have been hired to hunt for big cats including a legendary one known as the Enchantress. Anna is Otto's 'general staff'. The trio travels to the jungle of post-British Malaya.

The most compelling is hunting the animals. The jungle is not the deepest and darkest jungle. It's the wilds of Hawaii. It's beautiful but it doesn't look dangerous. The movie is generally flat for it. Harry is a static character. He has one mode. There is no romantic triangle possible and yet the movie forces one. Otto has a semi-interesting relationship with Anna. A better script would have them deal with their relationship. That's the drama in this story. This should really be a movie about their companionship with Harry as the outside observer. The movie does have some good looking cats.

I watched the film because of the cast. I am a fan of Mitchum, Martinelli, and Hawkins, All of them were at their best physical condition when they made the film, making the film worthwhile if you were a fan of any of the three. Silvia Koscina, the Yugoslavian actress, has a small role as a stewardess during a business class flight sequence. Interestingly, the noted Italian film director Mauro Bolognini had chosen both Martinelli and Koscina to act in his movies by a coincidence. .The film Rampage was ordinary, if not dumb with a story that has a very predictable ending,

Why is the film stupid? "The Enchantress" in the film is a leopard that apparently attracts Asian tigers in the story. The fact is a leopard is smaller than a grown tiger and they don't like each other and have different habitats. The film and the story suggest something else.

Finally to have a German actor Stefan Schnabel play an Asian village chief was poor casting.

"Rampage", made in 1963, starred Robert Mitchum, Elsa Martinelli, and Jack Hawkins. This film, set in the jungles of Malasia, had the two professionals, Hawkins an animal hunter, and Mitchum, a trapper, hired by a zoo in Germany to capture a rare species of jungle cat and bring the animal back alive for a major exhibition. Mitchum sees the chance to do as the zoo wishes, while Hawkins only desires the killing of the animal for the newest addition to his collection of kills and trophies. Adding to the mixture is Hawkins' mistress, played by Elsa Martinelli. She goes on the hunt as well, and finally decides to leave Hawkins, tiring of his desire to only kill.

The hunt in Malasia goes well, the animal is captured, but Hawkins' jealousy gives vent to revenge on the two, Mitchum and Martinelli. The film features a stirring music score by Elmer Bernstein, and the scenery in Malasia is breathtaking. Mitchum portrays cool as only he could, and Martinelli and Hawkins add a style to the film. Sadly, not on VHS or DVD yet.