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More by accident than design, my Christmas film viewings this year have been punctuated by a nostalgic flavor which has taken me back to my childhood days, either through films which I haven't watched since – the Fairy Tale Popeye cartoons, Abbott & Costello's JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1952), the two Lou Ferrigno HERCULES movies, etc. – or ones which I recall being released theatrically at the time but which I hadn't managed to catch up with until now (examples of which I should be getting to over this coming weekend).It follows, therefore, that the film under review is another one pertaining to the former group: actually, this is the second of two similar movies with the same trio of leads (albeit two of whom are playing different characters) and the same African setting – the first was entitled Africa EXPRESS and had been released the previous year. Giuliano Gemma reprises the role of John Baxter, ex-WWII fighter pilot turned African tourist guide extraordinaire, Ursula Andress is a nurse whose traumatic experience when her missionary camp was attacked by a horde of bloodthirsty natives made her lose her memory and Jack Palance is a shady Dutch engineer with an eye on the uranium supplies recently discovered in the vicinity of that camp. Gemma is flanked by Biba, his amiable chimp companion whose fits of jealousy (sparked by Gemma, understandably, straying in his affections for it when he meets the sultry Andress), drunken antics and "erotic dreams" (one of which opens the film itself) are often the source of amusement for the viewer.Although I had also watched its predecessor on Italian TV, it's been so long ago that I can't hope to make any sensible comparisons with this one: still, despite finding the film enjoyable enough today, I guess I was more tolerant of such mindless fare then because it seemed that, even at 93 minutes, the pace dragged slightly in spots; besides, Palance's come-uppance is pretty lame. For the record, there are also a colorful assortment of supporting characters: Enzo Bottesini as Gemma's greedy, ill-fated partner who, at one point, is involved in a rousing fistfight with Gemma which sees them hitting dining tourists with umbrellas!; Giuseppe Maffiolo, also reprising his role of the missionary suffering carnal temptations because of Andress; Peter Martell - who, Gemma reveals in the DVD supplements, was the first choice for the role of Trinity before having to bail out in favor of Terence Hill because of a broken leg {see my comments above on BLACKIE THE PIRATE [1971]} - as a real twit of a British sergeant; an uncredited actor playing the leader of the natives who, of course, is a good friend of Gemma's and who, in his futile attempts to have a male heir, fathered eleven daughters and might well strangle his wife and the witch doctor if the former doesn't deliver next time, etc. The ubiquitous De Angelis brothers, Guido & Maurizio, typically provide a nicely percussive score – although I wouldn't say this was one of their most memorable works.
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