The Champagne Safari (1995)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

George Ungar

Writers:

Harold Crooks (writer)
John Kramer (writer)

Release Date:

27 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

The story of Charles E. Bedaux, Franco-American industrial efficiency expert, adventurer, and Nazi collaborator. |

Plot Keywords:

Efficiency Expert | Nazi | WWII | Millionaire | British Columbia

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jim Morris	...	Narrator (voice)
Colm Feore	...	Narrator (voice)
David Hemblen	...	Charles Bedaux (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Bedaux	...	Himself (archive footage)
Fern Bedaux	...	Herself (archive footage)
Arno Breker	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bilonha Chiesa	...	Herself (archive footage)
Jim Christy	...	Himself
Josefina Daly	...	Herself (archive footage)
Sepp Dietrich	...	Himself (archive footage)
Duchess of Windsor	...	Herself (archive footage)
Duke of Windsor	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dwight D. Eisenhower	...	Himself (archive footage)
Timothy Findley	...	Himself
Betty Hanley	...	Herself
Charles Higham	...	Himself
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Ley	...	Himself (archive footage)
Franz Medicus	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bernard L. Montgomery	...	Himself (archive footage)
Cecil Pickell	...	Himself
Albert Speer	...	Himself (archive footage)
Julius Streicher	...	Himself (archive footage)
Frank Swannell	...	Himself (archive footage)
William Legh Walsh	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tommy Wilde	...	Himself

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Field Seven Films

Movie Connections:

Features Triumph des Willens (1935)

spectacular footage mixes with a story you won't care about

Film about Charles Bedaux who came to the US from France and changed the way factories produced their products. In the process he became one of the wealthiest men in the world only to see it all begin to slip away as he fought to maintain ties with the axis powers during the Second World War and as the workers of the world fought against his methods. The film intercuts footage from an expedition he took across the Canadian Rockies with his life story, the result is a mish mash of a tale who's purpose I'm still trying to sort out. Blame it on the director. there is the nuggets of a good story in this mess but I can't find it. I know little more about Bedaux after the film then when I went in. His was the only side and so long as his family friends and business were safe he didn't care what he he did. Unfortunately the American government did, especially during war time. Its on odd film about an odd man and its interesting up to a point, but somewhere about half way in I realized I had no idea why I was watching this or why I should care. I made it to the end, but can't really say it was worth the slog- even if the footage from the Rockies trip is often spectacular. I'd take a pass