Review: Beyond Mombasa

Cornel Wilde plays a hard-drinking, somewhat selfish American in Africa searching for the killers of his brother, who may have met foul play, whether it be at the hands of the legendary native tribe of ‘Leopard Men’, indulging in black magic and the like or something a little more simple, like a business deal gone wrong. Ron Randell is chief suspect numero uno, as the business partner of the brother, whilst joining Wilde are Donna Reed as a pretty anthropologist, and Leo Genn as her genial missionary uncle. Christopher Lee plays a famed white hunter who also joins the group on their expedition.

Not bad 1956 George Marshall (“Destry Rides Again”, “How the West Was Won”) adventure set in Africa is fairly typical stuff but a dated and transparent plot involving ‘Leopard Men’, and a seriously unpleasant characterisation by Wilde in the supposed hero role, leave a bad taste in the mouth. Wilde is seriously rude and unlikeable for the most part.

Some of the action is quite exciting, Reed is always a pleasure, and a young Lee steals the show as a charismatic French (er. French..ish) hunter, one of his rare non-villain roles, and one of his best early roles. Genn is solid for the most part, but his big scene at the end is sheer lunacy.

Racially it’s a bit on the nose, as many of these films with tribal characters tend to be. Then again, it’s not really my kind of film, so perhaps I’m not the best judge. Nice work by cinematographer Freddie Young (“Ivanhoe”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Lust for Life”), though, with plenty of wildlife on display. The screenplay is by Richard English (The John Wayne vehicle “Big Jim McLain”) and Gene Levitt (“Foreign Intrigue”, with Robert Mitchum), from a story by James Eastwood. It’s worth a look for Christopher Lee completists and safari movie enthusiasts.

Rating: C+