Perdidos no Kalahari

I am like most of the reviewer of this film in that it has been so long since I've had a chance to see it again. I saw this film as a child of 11 or 12. The plane crashes because of a enormous cloud/flight of locusts that so muck up the plane's engines that it cannot sustain the speed to remain airborne. Some of the most memorable scenes for me is when the survivors first find the melons. Then when they finally slay the desert antelope. And, of course the ending is something that you just have to see for yourself. This movie along with another movie, "The Lion" are my two lost movies that I fear that I will go to my grave not owning. How does a person go about pleading to Paramount pictures for the movies to be released on DVD to the public?

What a great flick. It's hard to believe that it never received the recognition it fully deserved. Acting is first-rate, the scenery magnificent and the plot hooked you in immediately. The ULTIMATE survival movie!

Stuart Whitman played his role as ultimate survivor to the hilt in probably the most effective role ever in his career.

I would hope that some day Paramount comes to it's senses and releases this on DVD. All fans of this movie should in fact demand no less- let's start lobbying Paramount. Until then, it is an all too rarely seen item on cable movie channels like A&E or AMC.

I'm really gratified to find so many other reviewers having good memories of Sands of the Kalahari and feeling as put out as I do that it is not on VHS or DVD. Nor apparently has it been seen in America at least for some time.

This is a tale of survival, but the characters sure don't come out of Swiss Family Robinson. A small plane crashes in the Kalahari desert in South Africa. One woman, Susannah York, and five men. Only one of them Stuart Whitman who is a big game hunter is really trained for the business of survival. The others are products of the ease and comfort of civilization. One of them, Stanley Baker, is badly injured and needs constant nursing by York.

There's a colony of baboons nearby and Whitman starts identifying with them in every sense of the world. He turns on the others, eliminating them one by one except York who he decides will be his savage Eve to his savage Adam.

The injured Baker gradually heals and in the end proves to be the savior for York. I'm not going to say any more, but hopefully TCM or AMC will run this film at some point for American audiences.

Susannah York is beautiful and talented and goes through a gamut of emotions regarding Whitman and their predicament. Stanley Baker is a favorite of mine among British players, he never gave a bad performance in any film I ever saw him in. But the real treat is Whitman. His devolution of character out in that desert was Oscar caliber material and why he wasn't nominated in 1965 is a mystery.

If some American movie channel gets a hold of this film, do not miss it.

Sands of the Kalahari is directed by Cy Endfield who also adapts the screenplay from the novel of the same name written by William Mulvihill. It stars Stuart Whitman, Stanley Baker, Susannah York, Harry Andrews, Theodore Bikel and Nigel Davenport. Music is by John Dankworth and cinematography by Erwin Hillier.

A raw survivalist thriller that finds a disparate group of people crash land in the deserts of Africa and promptly start to come apart as a group. Cue arguments, attempted rape, killings, animal slaughter, alpha male posturing and Adam and Eve complexes. The allegory is obvious but handled with skill by Endfield, and it all builds with great intensity towards a truly bleak, yet delightfully ambiguous finale. There's some over acting going on and the dialogue can stretch credibility at times, but yes this is a worthy entry in the survivalist hall of fame. 7/10

I have read most of the comments about Sands of the Kalahari, and like most of you have been looking for several years for the tape or DVD of this movie. Well, great news movie lovers, I found a site that offers the DVD of this movie and ships free. Price as advertised is 11.99. I have already ordered my copy and thought you would be interested in getting yours. Here's the web site. http://store.thesmallscreen.org/index.html Check under the action section. I saw this movie in 1965 when it first came out and was struck by the realism the movie contained. I think any one that likes action type films will surely like this movie. Of course Susannah York is also a very good actress and gives this movie an added attraction for watching it.