Hatari! (1962)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Harry Kurnitz (story)
Leigh Brackett (writer)

Release Date:

19 June 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Wayne means adventure!

Plot:

A group of men trap wild animals in Africa and sell them to zoos. Will the arrival of a female wildlife photographer change their ways ?

Plot Keywords:

Zoo | Animal | Photographer | Hospital | Africa

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

John Wayne	...	Sean Mercer
Hardy Krüger	...	Kurt Muller (as Hardy Kruger)
Elsa Martinelli	...	Anna Maria 'Dallas' D'Allesandro
Red Buttons	...	Pockets
Gérard Blain	...	Charles 'Chips' Maurey (as Gerard Blain)
Bruce Cabot	...	Little Wolf aka The Indian
Michèle Girardon	...	Brandy de la Court (as Michele Girardon)
Valentin de Vargas	...	Luis Francisco Garcia Lopez
Eduard Franz	...	Dr. Sanderson
Queenie Leonard	...	Nurse (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

157 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Swahili

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #19999) | Australia:G | Portugal:M/12 | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:S (cut) (1972) | Finland:K-12 (uncut) (1962) | Sweden:11 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Arusha National Park, Tanzania

Company:

Malabar

Trivia:

Red Buttons, a liberal Democrat, later said that he greatly regretted his "gross misapprehension" line.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the doctor needs a blood donor for Little Wolf near the beginning of the film, he states that it will be difficult to find suitable blood because the type is AB-. In fact though the type itself is rare, an AB- recipient can accept blood from any Rh- donor: A-/B-/o- are all ok, and type-specific AB- blood isn't required. Rh- blood is less common than Rh+, but not that rare (particularly o-, the universal donor).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sean Mercer: [over two-way radio] Kurt, can you hear me?
Kurt Muller: Go ahead, Sean.
Sean Mercer: At about eleven o'clock... right in the middle of that herd of wildebeest - see him?
Kurt Muller: Oh, that's a good one.
Sean Mercer: Let's go; start out easy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Big Lebowski (1998)

Soundtrack:

Baby Elephant Walk

One of a Kind

I am somewhat surprised at a few of the negative comments in this forum regarding the movie. Although I see 95% positive, the ones that dislike the movie because of the romance between Dallas and John are particularly distasteful.

They point out an age discrepancy, and call John "Grandpa Wayne", good grief! John Wayne was 59 yrs old at the making of this movie, and the actress that played Dallas was 27. In real life those kind of romances happen all the time, why would anyone be surprised when they happen in fiction?

The animal scenes are exquisite. I doubt there will ever be a movie like this made again. This is how animals get into the zoos, they just don't walk in there and say "sign me up!"

I like everything about this movie; it is a diversification for Wayne, who was already maybe the most diverse actor in Hollywood history. (consider The Conquerer vs. The Quiet man). It has love, comedy, drama, and animals!

Plus all the actors in the movie were given great character depth. I am sure many people have heard of the baby elephant walk, but did not know it came from this movie.

Its such a fun movie, I have to give it a 10, because there is no way to make it any better. What a great achievement of direction, producing, and animal filming!