Africa: Texas Style! (1967)

Executive producer: Ivan Tors. Distributor: Paramount. Production company: Vantors. Producer: Andrew Marton. Associate producer: John Pellatt. Production manager: Derek Parr.Copyright 2 June 1967 by Vantors Films. An Ivan Tors Production, released by Paramount. New York opening at RKO neighborhood theaters: 12 July 1967. U.S. release: 2 June 1967. U.K. release: 16 July 1967. Australian release: 5 January 1968. Sydney opening on a double bill at the Capitol (ran one week). 9,818 feet. 109 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Hoping to develop wild game ranching in Kenya as an alternative to cattle ranching, Howard Hayes, an English settler, engages two Texan cowboys, Jim Sinclair and John Henry, to rope and herd the animals. Cattle rancher Karl Bekker opposes the scheme, fearing that his cattle will be infected by diseases spread by the wild animals.COMMENT: With a banal script that does not miss a single cliché and has trite dialogue and "worthy" sentiments to match, Andrew Marton cannot make much of this film, even with actual location filming. The actors come off poorly, and the animals fare even worse, being mainly used to cover up action where inept direction has left an untoward gap. There are one or two moderately exciting moments, and the film is in color. Otherwise, it's a bore.

Snooze. This is just a TV pilot film for the Ivan Tors series 'Cowboy in Africa.' O'Brian and Nardini play Texas cowboys who are hired by local wildlife caregiver Mills to corral big game as part of a wildlife saving effort. O'Brian is the real Texan, while Nardini is actually a Navajo. The bad guy is a South African hunter-rancher at odds with Mills. He's played by Nigel Green who offers the only lively performance in the lead cast. There's little humor, characterization or strong drama. But there are a few good points: 1) some excellent animal scenes, especially one with a rhino that gets up close and personal 2) A cameo in the first scene by Hayley Mills. Her light, bewitching presence in thirty seconds of screen time makes one long for her to remain throughout, but sadly she's gone in a flash. She always works well with her father John Mills and it's too bad they couldn't associate in this film. Oh, well. Otherwise this film is a bland time-killer.

When his own ranch in Texas is gradually eaten away by the population boom and the unstoppable urban sprawl that is called "progress", Jim Sinclair seeks some more unspoilt country to carry on his skills. Following an invitation from Wing Commander Howard Hayes (retired) he travels to Africa with his friend and partner (not like that) John Henry to look into a job offer. Hayes plans to capture the wild animals of the African plains, tame them and breed them as others do with cattle. However the idea has its critics and Sinclair finds he has to contend with threats on two feet as well as four.I don't know what I expected from this western pilot for a TV series I have never seen or will ever bother to try and see. I assume it was the weirdly comic title screaming out of the TV guide at me because even after watching it I couldn't find anything else that would encourage me to watch it again. The film opens with sweeping landscapes but after a while the shots of animals being roped start to get dull and it exposed the fact that the plot, about catching wild animals, is actually pretty boring as well. Essentially the plot has been thrown together to get a central "ranch" for the story to happen around but, as a pilot, the film put more effort into creating this base than it does into delivering a story. Occasionally the dialogue gets into interesting areas on hunting, catching animals, racism etc but generally I think these were in my mind because the film doesn't do anything of real interest with the themes are the script dismisses the subjects as soon as they threaten to be more than words.The cast can do nothing to reverse this because they are fairly TV standard. O'Brian sleep walks his way through the film – or at least he looks like he is asleep but I got the impression that he was acting flat out to come across as wooden as he did. Nardini is just as bad – a Mexican sidekick who cannot do anything add anything in the way of comic value. Mills takes the money for nothing while Corri is as dull as dishwater and a very bad choice for a sort of love interest. Green is a solid villain while Malinda offers an acceptable cute kid to represent Africa while also allowing lots of non-speaking performances in colourful paint.Overall a rather dull film that is a very obvious pilot due to how little it does other than set up a couple of cowboys, a ranch, some relationships and a bad guy. The plot and the action are fairly dull and I cared less and less the more the film went on. The cast don't do anything to help matters and generally turned in the type of performances you get when the material just requires actions from their characters instead of emotion. Not worth the two hours it will fill.

Animal adventure show producer Ivan Tors ("Flipper," "Gentle Ben," "Sea Hunt") had great success with his other African film "Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion" which served as the pilot for the TV show "Daktari". The feature film "Africa -- Texas Style!" served as the pilot for his TV show "Cowboy in Africa." "Cowboy in Africa" is a much better title since the film borrows heavily from the John Wayne's "Hatari," and is basically the story about ranchers, range wars, poachers, and cowboys (doing it "Texas Style!") with the element of the protection of African wildlife thrown in. Not as fun or with as much comic relief as most of Ivan Tors other work. Watch for star John Mills' daughter Hayley Mills in a quick cameo at the airport. Not a bad film at all, and if you are a fan of the above mentioned works, it's worth a look.