Review of Hatari! (1962) by Martin T — 05 Feb 2010

You can tell this is a Howard Hawks film because it feels like a cross between Only Angels Have Wings and Bringing Up Baby... and maybe a Disney movie or a nature documentary. It's about a multi-cultural (although, notably, it's the two American white guys who end up with the girls) ragtag team of a big game hunters in the African wilderness.

There isn't much of a plot, it's more a series of anecdotes. Some exciting, some funny, some cute. Some of the hunting scenes are marvelously done, and there's some of that terrific Hawks banter.

But a lot of it just feels goofy, and the Henry Mancini score doesn't help (at least now I know where "Baby Elephant Walk" comes from). All it takes are a few lame sight gags or slapstick segments to ruin it, and there's more than a few.

But I do love how Hawks handles the John Wayne persona and always makes him much more likeable and fallible. Overall it just didn't strike the right tone with me, too cutesy and flippant and dare I say wholesome, but there are some nice moments.